


Take Two

by Chyrstis



Category: Saints Row
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 00:42:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 50,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chyrstis/pseuds/Chyrstis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you want to change things up a bit, sometimes you just have to head back to the beginning. -Spoilers for SRIV-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I joked about taking a stab at the possible scenarios that could happen over at Tumblr, but didn't think I'd take one myself. Or that it would turn more serious than fun. Apologies if anything's a bit spotty!
> 
> Also as a warning, untagged pairings will pop up as this continues! I know the warning's late by this point, but I appreciate all of your patience with me as this keeps on developing.

Time travel was the shit.

Nothing was too far, nothing was too obscure, and if they could think of it, the machine could take them as close to it as possible. Raptor attacks and Easter Island heads topped the experience off, especially when half of the heads turned into monuments to Saints Flow.

Sure there were 'concerns' about the changes made to timelines and all that pseudoscience crap, but what they found was that the timeline they didn't alter could be accessed as easily as the one that they had. Matt had fallen out of his chair when this was confirmed, and to celebrate the boss took a bag of fireworks to shoot off of the Great Pyramid.

They also might've blown up Easter Island by accident, but that timeline was kind of fucked anyway.

Once the initial shine had worn off they got to thinking about things that might need changing. It was inevitable. You give someone a device that can let you change damn near anything, they're going to eventually come up with an event that could've gone differently.

Shaundi laughed at the idea of changing things, but the question was left in her eyes. What to change?How to change it? Pierce had the same look, and the two traded ideas while playing pool with Asha. Pierce's idea to become the King and then his own impersonator earned an eyeroll from the agent, but he didn't let it sway him. There was another Saints Flow monument to make, and the music industry to influence.

The boss wanted to headbutt a lot of dictators in the face. Asha had a counter to that idea as well, asking her if she had forgotten what her new empire classified her as. Details, details, she said, dismissing it quickly, but the glowing armada still remained. And the courtesy hit she let Asha take later stung like hell.

Zinyak's technology gave them too many options and too much hope. Kinzie had fun with the device, but steered clear of it once Pierce brought up the initial idea. Any suggestions to clone Oleg were met with a punch to the face, and the boss took three before she finally decided to drop it.

By the end of the week, however, both Oleg and Birk had rejoined their crew, and another set of possibilities opened up before them. Cloning didn't have to be the answer. A simple trip to pick up a lost friend would do. Kinzie and Matt had argued the benefits and downsides for hours once the job was done, leaving King to translate their furious gibberish into even more furious English.

His own thoughts followed shortly after. "The past is the past," he said, confident as always, but unsure of what exactly they were all getting into. "It's okay to dwell on it for a time, but move on. That's what we're meant to do."

But what can you do when a portal to the past is staring you down? Begging you to give it a shot, just this once? For all his hesitation, not even Benjamin "motherfucking" King was able to suppress the twinkle in his eye that appeared whenever time travel came up.

You can leave the past as the past, but a trip every now and then was far too tempting to pass up.

Johnny had to agree.

* * *

"...cutting out the middleman. There are big plans for this place, and for them to continue you and your Saints must be dealt with accordingly. It is unfortunate that-"

"Right, right. Salt the Earth, cut the fat, get back to business, all that evil villain shit. Before you continue, I've got one big question for you. Do you have any chicken bazooms on this little pleasure cruise?"

Hughes scrunched his eyebrows together. "Bazooms?"

"No?" V let out a heavy sigh and let her hand creep towards the gun hidden in her hoodie. "Then we're done talking. There's a Freckle Bitches with my name on it, and I'd like to hit it before I turn thirty."

Hughes' chuckle was cut short by the sound of shouts. He stared past V and she whipped around in time for a large figure to barrel into her, sending them both tumbling over the boat's railing. She barely had time to scream before she hit the water, thrashing against whatever grip the other person held on her.

They held tight, however, dragging them up for air just as gunfire broke out. "The fuck?" she choked out, still too disoriented to grab her knife or gun.

"It's a trap. Just get out of the water before they figure things out." the man said, half supporting her as they swam awkwardly away from the shitstorm unfolding behind them.

_Trap, eh?_ She could break away from him and try to duck out of sight, but too many guns were aimed at them right now, and her focus was still jarred from the sudden impact. She had no choice but to go with the flow for now and then quiz the shit out of him later.

He hit the edge first and yanked her up onto the platform, shooing her in front of him as they ran for cover. Some of Hughes' crew spotted them, shooting wildly at their retreating figures, but the minute they ducked down an alley, the man with her pulled out a small remote, smacked it a couple of times and hit a button.

She barely had time to look over his Stilwater hoodie before a large explosion tore through the air, causing her to press her back against the brick wall for support. Her ears rang, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the road where she could see hints of the glowing flames.

The man next to her moved, large sunglasses obscuring his eyes, and slapped something wet onto her head. V's hands flew up, expecting anything. It was her hat.

She gaped at the man standing in front of her and he cracked a grin. "I think we should get out of here."

With no voice to speak of at the moment, she could only give him a nod.

They piled into the nearest car, some rusty Go!, and her odd partner-in-crime hotwired it in no time, whistling when the car came to life. "Fuck yeah. Now to get to a place with some decent fucking food."

The engine revved and she pulled the seatbelt down to buckle in, missing it a few times before fastening it. "What's your deal?"

He flicked the radio on and checked the mirrors for anyone following them. "My deal? I think by now it'd be pretty obvious."

A taxi tried to cut them off and he sped ahead, ignoring them as he straddled the line between their lane and the other. V gripped the seat and kept her eyes on the road. "Enlighten me."

"Do I really need to spell that out to you?"

Her hair felt ready to stand on end. "Yeah, I think you do, because saving my ass is one thing, saving my ass from an ambush is another. Especially when it's followed by a goddamn boat explosion!"

"If it makes you feel any better, you were supposed to be caught in it." he said, turning the large dark lenses of his sunglasses over to her briefly.

_No, it doesn't._ "And how would you know that?"

"Because I'm a fucking mind reader, that's why."

"Pull over."

He looked right at her this time, taking in her sharp scowl. The fact that she looked like a drowned cat probably didn't do her any favors, but he seemed to get the message. "Sure thing, boss."

They screeched to a halt on part of the sidewalk, causing the car behind them to careen into the other lane. There was plenty of light here, so she had no trouble looking at him. "Johnny, this isn't funny."

"I was wondering why you weren't smiling." He grinned, but there was still something off about him. Something unfamiliar. "You want the easy answer, or the whole one?"

"The whole one!"

"Julius wanted to light you up like the fourth of July, so I crashed the party. Would've brought the welcome wagon with me, but Miller kept on whining about unnecessary strain to the portal. Big fucking deal."

_Miller? Portal? Julius?_ "What?"

"Time travel's a bitch like that."

She stared at Gat for a good minute before opening the door to their car. She took three steps and hit the pavement.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're such a prick."

"You say the nicest things, boss." Gat replied, focusing more on his food than her sour expression.

V squeezed her hair, hating how it still wasn't dry yet, and retied both of her loose pigtails into a simple ponytail. "Time travel. Actual time travel. I don't even want to believe it. God, I wish I had a cigarette right now."

"Freaky shit, eh? And that was after the alien invasion and your bid for president."

"Who was my VP?"

"Keith David."

"Damn, I've got good taste." She took a swig of her soda and poked around in her fries for a crispy one. "But that's gotta be a long time from now."

Gat leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. "'Bout ten years. Or twelve years? I don't remember. I don't remember you looking this scrawny either."

"Hey, I've got youthful vigor on my side. You know you're jealous, being my elder and all. Every time you move I wonder if the creaking is coming from the diner or your rusty joints."

"Bite me," he said with a smile.

This odd future-Gat would really take some getting used to. Regular Johnny would've already lost his patience with her, but this one had no trouble shooting the shit. He almost seemed happy to do so, which was another thing she had yet to get.

"But I'm still not clear on something." She crammed another fry into her mouth and felt her expression grow serious. "You mentioned Julius."

"Guess I did." She waited for him to continue and all he did was grab another piece of chicken. He tossed it into the air and caught it a few times before catching it in his mouth. "The motherfucker turned on everyone, you, me, the entire gang."

"This is the same Julius we're talking about, right?"

"Yeah." He chewed a bit more and stole a few of her fries. "I don't know how long he'd been planning it, but he wanted to take you out. It wouldn't have killed you, but being in a coma for five years is almost as bad."

She slapped his hand away and sat back in the cheap metal chair. "Five years. Why would he... Just why?"

It just didn't make sense to her, not after everything Julius had built, and everything she had learned from him. She trusted him. She would do anything for him. ...But apparently that meant nothing to him, and she was just as disposable as anyone else.

She didn't bother to hide how much it hurt, and the Johnny across from her gave her about as close to a sympathetic look as she was going to get. "We have an idea, but if you want your own answers I'd go to Troy first."

That got her attention. "Troy? What the hell has he got to do with this?"

"Was he there when you got the call?"

She remembered the rush of panic that almost swarmed the group, and how her yelling match with Dex echoed through the halls. It hadn't been resolved when they both had left, but she was too caught up in the rush to think much of Troy's absence.

But one question did pop up in her head more than once through that firefight. _Where the fuck is Troy?_

V slowly got up out of her seat, and left the restaurant, heading towards the payphone on the street. Other Johnny had tossed her the change for the meal earlier, and a part of her wondered if this was the reason why as she stabbed in Troy's number.

He picked up before the first ring was done. _"V? Christ, I almost thought..."_

"Thought what?" she asked through clenched teeth.

" _Thought you were dead! What else? I just got a call from some Saints in the area and couldn't get a hold of your phone. The entire place's burning and fuck... You end up jumping to some conclusions."_

_You should've been there. Where were you?_ "We need to talk. Where can I find you?"

" _I was trying to hunt your ass down, but I'm on my way back to my place. Probably about ten minutes out. Meet you there?"_

Her voice remained even, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah, I'll be there."

She put the phone back and ran her hand over her face, her heart pounding. _Don't let it be true. Please, don't._

"Yo, ready to go?"

Johnny had pulled the car up beside her, and she gave him a nod before hopping back into the passenger seat. She took off her wet hat, wiping some of her hair out of her face, and resisted the urge to shake it out like a dog. "Aren't you going to ask me where to?"

"Where to?"

She rolled her eyes at him, ready to rattle off the address when she noticed his clothes. His now perfectly dry clothes. "Hey, what the hell! You fix your clothes but don't even bother to set me up?"

"You ever take a crash course in time travel? I got bitched at for hours about time contraband, polluting the past, etc, etc-"

"Time contraband? You're time contraband! Anything you say is completely invalidated by that fact alone." She folded her arms and considered stripping off the hoodie so her tank top could at least dry off. Her bermudas were a lost cause. "Fuck me. Just go to Troy's."

* * *

She tossed her hoodie onto the floor of their car and got out to search for Troy's apartment. Gat had purposely dropped her off at a spot that wouldn't be directly connected to their destination, claiming that it would give her the cover she needed to get there. She agreed, but when she asked him if he would be joining her, he quickly shut that idea down.

"You want him breathing? Don't put me in the same room as him."

He then sped off into the night. This was on her and her alone.

She made her way down the sidewalk as random cars sped by, and felt the tension in her body wind tighter with every step. When the building finally came into view she practically ran the rest of the way there, pausing for nothing. She crept in behind the person unlocking the door at the bottom and dragged herself up the stairs to burn off the excess energy that had been building the entire trip.

Every part of her felt like it was on fire. She needed to be calm for this, but she couldn't. Her last attempt to shove it all aside failed the minute Troy's door came into view, and she pounded her fist against it hard.

It swung open and Troy answered it much like she expected him to, smoking a cigarette while looking worried as hell. The first was normal. The second wasn't, but that didn't matter right now.

She pushed him back inside and slammed the door shut. "What the fuck was that?"

"What?" He had been looking her over for injuries, but stopped. "The fuck are you talking about?"

"I was supposed to meet Hughes and Julius. Tell me why one's missing and the other's dead! Also, explain to me why I was supposed to die as well!"

He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Whoa, slow down! I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Julius wanted me dead, Troy!" V yelled, the sound almost ringing in the small room. "Why? Why would he?"

Her voice trailed off as she saw the change in his expression and she desperately wanted to break something.

"That...wasn't supposed to happen."

"No shit, Sherlock." she said, aiming her tired glare at the wall just to the right of his head.

He took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, exhaling it slowly afterward. "The plan was to take Julius in and disband the Saints peacefully. Take out the main players one at a time, send them on their way, and let the others go wherever the hell they wanted. Clear the city, clear the crime. Done deal."

"Was that the line that Monroe fed you?"

"In hindsight, yeah. It was easy enough to swallow until the point that Winslow took an express trip to the morgue."

She clenched and unclenched her fists, her stomach twisting. "And we'll both have that to deal with for the rest of our lives. I know that. But Julius had to know that we wouldn't stand down. This is _our_ city. We took it back and we aren't just going to throw it away!"

"V, think about it," Troy sighed. "Julius wanted to clean up the streets. Real noble intentions, right? Now half the time you'll find Saints committing the same crimes that the Vice Kings or Rollers were. No gang is the solution to another gang!"

"And blowing up anyone who stands in the way of that is just as noble? Fuck that!" she shot back. "I joined the Saints to make a difference. Maybe this is the opportunity I need to do just that. We've made a lot of mistakes. I've made a lot of mistakes. But I'm not dead, and I won't let anything get in the way of the Saints again." V pointed at him. "Including you. I'm only going to say this once. Pick a side. Pick us, and I'll try to sweep your involvement under the rug as neatly as possible. Maybe we'll find a way to use your connections as a benefit, but we have to trust you. I can't have you doing deals one minute and leaking the info to the cops the next. That won't fly any more."

"Or I pick door number two?"

V nodded, giving him a wan smile. "Yeah, magic door number two. You stay where you are and I give you King's choice. A one-way ticket out of here where we'll never have to see you or worry about you ever again."

Troy's calm cracked a little more, but she couldn't look elsewhere. "No easy choice there."

"Well, life's a bitch like that." She turned and made her way to the door, not giving him a chance to respond. "You've got a day to decide. Either show up to the church, or don't. Your call, your life."

The door slammed shut behind her and she didn't look back.


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Well, you're counting on the Saints going for a full-on assault every time!" Matt turned back to the screen in front of him and pulled up a large set of numbers. "I've run it. Kinzie's run it. It's almost a 60 to 40 split even with the boss present."

Johnny took one look at the information Matt was going over and sneered. "Your bean counter can try to predict this shit, but that doesn't mean it's right."

"It's not a- ...Never mind. I'm trying to tell you that even if you step in there's a small chance that that result isn't even going to happen. You've run through this before, you know what happens when you introduce an unknown variable."

"It either changes it or it doesn't. What's the problem?"

Matt blinked a few times, caught between confused and horrified. "What's the problem? Do you really want me to answer that? Maybe I should pull up the results from the first time you landed back in Stilwater. Does the term 'fatal exception error' mean anything to you?"

"No."

"And it doesn't mean shit to me either," V said from behind them, her hands on her hips. The spacesuit that she refused to drop made her look all the more commanding. "I'd ask what the hell you two were cooking up, but sound carries and you're not exactly being subtle."

"Well, it is one of the smaller ships-"

"Don't make excuses, Matt. Waste of time and precious oxygen. Also, don't even try to hide the screen. I wouldn't be able to tell you what half of it is anyway."

Matt slid away from the computer, no longer posing deliberately in front of it and Johnny shook his head. "No shit. It didn't make any sense when Kinzie explained it the first time around, but I might've been trying to tune it out."

The redhead laughed. "You were also busy asking me how much money I'd put down on a controlled raptor fight. But seriously, I'm kind of surprised you didn't go to Kinzie first."

"Well, he did." Matt said, tapping his fingers together. "I just cut in before she could hear what he was asking about."

"I say a few words and he jumps all over it like a motherfucking spider monkey. Should've expected it, but whatever. I wanted to test something else. Something a bit more recent."

"And something a lot closer to home."

Gat frowned at first, but shrugged. "Why not? Don't you want to know what could've happened if you would've stepped off of that boat that night?"

"I wondered for almost a year straight," V countered. "But it's one thing to tag a set of dinosaur bones, or carve Pierce's face into the side of a mountain. Maybe I wanted a few more cracks at fucking up history before tackling my own."

"You know I've got you, boss." Gat said, letting his arms fall to his sides.

A small smile worked its way onto her face. "Yeah, I know. I also know whatever you two manage to screw up can't be any worse than any attempt I'd take at it myself. Just check with Kinzie before you two come up with any other bright ideas." She winked at him and waggled her eyebrows at Matt before making her way out of the room. "Oh, and don't screw me up too badly. I was still young and impressionable back then! Sweet and innocent."

Johnny chuckled, pulling out his knife to give it a flip or two. "Sweet and innocent, my ass."

"She seems nice enough." Matt ducked his head a bit when Gat raised an eyebrow, but pushed forward. "Based on what I've seen she's almost well-adjusted."

"She was. You ever take a look at the boss five years down the line? This line, as in this time period?" Matt shook his head and Gat's grin took on a sharper edge. "You should. Good times."

* * *

Other Johnny wasn't outside when she left Troy's. V did, however, find her hoodie hanging by the exit. It was dry now, and when she searched the pockets she found her now-working phone and a set of keys. Her phone beeped and a message from an unknown number popped up. She clicked on it as she pushed open the door and it told her to check the silver car in the parking lot.

_Silver car?_ She walked over to where the cars were parked and gaped at the small, shiny Emu. "Are you shitting me?" Sure enough, the keys went to it. "Real cute, Johnny. Real cute."

It started, and once she put it in gear her phone started ringing. Not bothering to look at it, she held it up to her ear and backed out of the lot. "What's up?"

" _Ah, so you're not super crispy then. Good to know."_

"Johnny! Just the guy I wanted to call. Spread the word that I want people at the church tomorrow. There's some things that they need to know."

" _You aren't there yet?"_

"Nah, I'm heading back to my place to get some clothes and a shower in. I smell like whatever's been floating in the bay."

" _Fuck that. They might have a truck full of guys waiting for you. Head back to the church or hide out at my place until we know which motherfuckers to shoot at."_

"The ones pointing guns at you are always a good bet, but that's beside the point. Is Aisha still at your place?" V asked, honking at the car dragging its wheels in front of her.

" _Yeah."_

"Then that's not going to happen. I don't want her to get hurt because my shit followed me home. I'm getting my things and crashing at the church. Drop by tomorrow morning and we can go over why I'll never think about taking a cruise ever again. Are we good?"

She heard him mutter something under his breath on the other line, but couldn't make it out. _"Sure, we're cool. Just get there in one piece first."_

* * *

The fact that it hadn't occurred to her that her place could be staked out by Hughes' leftover crew made her wish that she had more on her to defend herself than her own two fists. Luckily they hadn't chosen that route yet, because when she snuck in through the fire escape there was no sign of forced entry.

Taking the first pistol she could get her hands on, she ran into the bathroom and kept it on the counter while she ran some shampoo through her hair and scrubbed herself clean. She was done in record time, and put her wet hair up in a messy bun to be braided later.

Seconds counted by as she threw clothes and extra clips into a duffel bag and V kept on glancing back at both the window and her front door as she did so. Once the last thing was in her bag she went back the way she came, moving as quickly as possible.

She couldn't relax until the church came into view, and even then she waited until she was inside. The crew that was there tried to throw questions her way, but she silenced them with a hand and instructed them to keep an eye on all corners of the church until morning.

She then proceeded to have one of the worst nights of sleep she'd had in a long time. The mattress on the floor wasn't a picnic, but every small noise made her snap awake and reach for her gun. Every flash of light made her wonder if another explosion was about to hit. Her dreams didn't have anything waiting for her, however. Only darkness.

It was Gat that woke her up the next day, nudging her with his foot. She went right for the gun, and he ducked out of its line of fire as it fired off a round.

"Shit," she swore, taking in a deep breath. "Fucking hell, Johnny. That wasn't smart."

"Next time I'll get a stick," he said, slowly crouching down so he could be on her level. "But until then, you've got some explaining to do, boss."

"Don't call me that. ...Just give me five minutes to get my brain working again. You're still one lucky son-of-a-bitch, you know that?"

He helped pull her to her feet and gave her a quick once-over. "No arguments there, but no one's tried to drop a bomb on me yet."

"Are you jealous?"

Johnny thought it over for a few seconds. "Don't know yet."

"Then I'll gift-wrap the next one and send it your way." V said, rolling her eyes as she pushed past him. The small desk they had dragged in weeks ago was still in its usual spot, hidden from the main area of the church. She pulled out the chair and fell down into it. "You hear from Dex at all?"

"Not a word. I figured he'd be the first to call and bitch you out, but nah, nothing."

V covered her face with her hands and groaned. "Un-fucking-believable. One minute I'm talking to Hughes, figuring out how to kick this chump to the side so I can get some goddamn food, and the next we're all scattered to the four fucking winds!" She slammed her hands down on the desk and stood up, pacing in a small circuit.

Gat's brows creased. "Nothing from Troy?"

"No." Her pacing picked up speed as she folded her arms behind her head. "I haven't heard from either of them, and this is not helping me calm down when it feels like the rug's been pulled out from under my feet."

He grabbed her arm as she went by, forcing her to stop. "You still haven't told me jack-shit yet. You planning on keeping me in the dark forever?"

"Of course not. I'm still reeling a bit from my mentor-figure stabbing me in the back, that's all."

Johnny's grip tightened. "What?"

"Hughes never planned on giving us back Julius. Hell, he never had Julius to begin with. The whole thing with the cops was done to see how much control Monroe could exert over us. When he failed, Hughes had no choice but to step in and see if he could wipe us off the map. Unfortunately, his little plan backfired like all the others did. Except this time, whoever it was that wanted me dead didn't mind burning him as well."

"And you're saying it's-"

"Julius." His grip was like a vice at this point and V tried not to let it show. "I'm telling you the truth."

"Why?" he asked, his lip curling.

"Julius thought we were no better than the Vice Kings. Power corrupts and all that shit. If one gang couldn't handle it, then no gangs would." The way everything had twisted in on itself made her head spin. "He knew we wouldn't back off. Probably would've gone after you once I was out of the picture."

The fury building in him was coming off in waves. He let her go and nearly put his foot through the desk as he kicked at it over and over. After the fifth strike the cheap wood finally gave way, and he snarled as he yanked his good leg out. "Your source is legit?"

V nodded. "About as legit as they can get."

"Then that motherfucker's a dead man."


	4. Chapter 4

"In case any of you were wondering, I'm not dead! I was a bit waterlogged, but neither dead nor maimed. So, completely disregard that rumor and make it clear to anyone else who asks you about it."

The large group of Saints remained quiet and V laughed a bit to herself. Speeches were Julius' thing, not the rookie kid who had somehow risen to become his second.

_Ain't that something,_ she mused. "But that explosion was meant to do what it failed to. Someone is continuing to target us and harm us, and I'm not going to stand for it as long as I'm still breathing. We don't have Julius right now, but we can stand without him. We can hold our own without him, and there's nothing stopping us from finding out just what the fuck is going on."

She gestured out towards the group. "I need each of you to keep your ear to the ground. People talk. They gossip, and I want you to dig up anything and everything in relation to this. However," V paused to point at a few scattered Saints. "If I hear anything connecting you to store robberies, beatings, and the like, I'm going to break your legs and show you the door. We clear?"

The group hummed in agreement, a few nodding faster than others.

"Then what are you all waiting around here for? Go out and get that shit started!"

* * *

"Of all the times for Dex to take a hike..." V sighed as she rested her head on her arms and stared at Johnny.

He was ransacking the small weapons cache hidden in a false wall behind the wrecked desk and threw whatever he found on top of it. Each one missed V by inches. "You're fucking wishing for Dex right now?"

"He's the smart one. Or at least the one used to micromanaging everything. I'm starting to see the benefits of having a group of people working for you. Suck at something? Kick it to the one most qualified to do it."

A few assault rifle clips joined the pile. "That's why I drive."

"But I'm never letting you dye my hair."

He stood up, RPG in hand, and glared right at her. "That's cold."

It joined the others on the table as he stomped his way out of the room. V's grin disappeared completely as she scrambled to follow him. "Whoa, Johnny, wait!"

She thought for a minute that he was going to hop in his car and speed off, but he didn't even leave the church. He just parked himself on a column on the opposite side and leaned against it, his arms crossed in front of him. The Saints sitting in a circle nearby cleared out when they saw her approach, and she was grateful for the small shred of privacy they were getting.

Her arms were folded behind her head as she slowly stepped in front of him, looking sheepish. "I would make an awful blonde."

Gat shook his head. "There's something I don't get. Julius shafts us and Troy and Dex fall off of the face of the planet. It's too damn convenient. You think they were waiting for this?"

"I don't see Troy pulling something like that," she said, chewing on her lip. "Dex either, but I wouldn't have guessed that Julius would."

"Positive?"

"Positive. Besides, I'm starting to think I'm a shitty judge of character."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "Eh, you're all right."

"Good, because I kinda need you. If the world's trying to kick my ass, I'd prefer to handle it with a friend."

She held out her hand and Johnny waited a few seconds before taking it. "As long as there are bullets there'll always be assholes needing one. I've got you, V."

Hearing that from him almost made her beam. Covering up her stupid grin fast, she drifted off to the nearest spot he wasn't occupying. Lucky for her, that spot happened to be Dex's.

Or was Dex's. Old maps and newspaper clippings dotted the wall, and even a quick scan of the dates gave her nothing new. It was months old, if that, and Dex usually had a habit of keeping everything in order.

She took her hat off to twirl in her hands, wondering when Dex had cleared everything out. Their argument before had made her livid to the point of leaving rooms just so she wouldn't try to deck him. What if that was a distraction he had needed?

_Troy and Julius flip, and you start thinking everyone's turned. Don't jump to conclusions just yet. Just do some digging on your own. ...And get yourself a damn cigarette. You've been pining for one ever since bizarro Johnny showed up._

"Will do," she said to herself as she walked up to the nearest Saint. "Hey, man. Mind if I bum a cig?"

"No prob, boss."

V wrinkled her nose at the title, but gave them a grateful look as they pulled out their pack. They tossed her a spare lighter and she pretended to juggle it as she walked towards one of the exits.

"Yo, heading out?" Johnny asked, his arms still folded in front of him. He hadn't moved an inch, but she had a feeling he was watching her like a hawk.

"Just grabbing a smoke break. No big deal."

"Yeah, but should we keep someone posted on you?"

"For the eight feet it takes for me to go outside and smoke? Jesus, don't tell me this is going to happen every time I have to take a piss." she snapped.

"Fine, fuck it." Johnny replied, waving her off. "Just don't wander off into traffic."

She flashed him the finger as she left and put the cigarette in her mouth. It took a few clicks for the cheap lighter to work, but she didn't care once she was able to inhale and exhale the smoke she'd been missing for hours.

It was heaven. She closed her eyes as a satisfied smile crept onto her face, and just soaked in the sensation for as long as she was able.

A low whistle came from her right and she cracked an eye open to see who it was. Johnny, but not Johnny. Tapping his gun against his leg, he stood against the drab brick wall of the church, wearing the exact same outfit he had the day before. "I feel like I should give you a moment."

The cigarette almost fell out of her mouth. "Jesus! The hell are you doing here?"

"Still got some unfinished business here. Building empires gets boring when you can't knock them down after a while." he said, pushing away from the wall to approach her.

When he got close she poked him in the arm a few times, doing one last check to see that she wasn't hallucinating. "Rock solid. Definitely not a fever dream."

"You done?"

"Almost. Can you lower the hood?" Gat raised an eyebrow, but reached up to push back the hood. At least enough for her to see exactly what she wanted to see. "Ha! I knew it!"

"What?"

"I thought you'd go to your grave with that damn haircut."

"Could still. Different future, different odds."

V's face fell. "Shit."

"Well, don't get all brokenhearted about it." he replied, looking irritated. "I'll never get what your fucking problem with it was."

"After dodging that bullet earlier with Johnny - other Johnny - I think it's best that we leave it a mystery. Anyway, I'm surprised no one gave you a hard time. We're kind of on full alert."

He shrugged. "I'm dressed in Saints colors and I know the sign. Should be fine as long as I stay out of other me's way. Hand him a fucking grenade if he gets bored. There's always shit to blow." V chuckled and he plucked the cigarette right out of her hand, pulling a few drags on it as if he owned it. "Want to hit FB?"

She stared at her stolen cigarette. "What?"

"You heard me."

Her hand went up. "Wait, are you seriously asking me to play hooky with you? When other you would skin both of us alive?"

"Eh, he'd try," he challenged. "But if you're real worried about it, just get him a funbag and you'll be cool."

"You're obsessed with it. Both of you." _...But that does sound pretty good right now. Damn._

V gave a resigned sigh and gestured for him to follow her.

* * *

"You swear I love this car?" They flew down the highway and she narrowly missed a screaming school bus. Today _would_ be the day she took out a vehicle full of small children.

Johnny rapped his knuckles on the window. "Made a whole presidential motorcade out of these zippy fucking things, kneecappers and all. King swears Keith David made you remove them after a bad run through Kansas, but I don't buy it."

"King? Like Benjamin King?"

"Yeah, Ben 'motherfucking' King. He's part of your crew now."

She blinked a few times in disbelief. "Every story about the future only gets crazier and crazier. I mean, it just gets harder to imagine me as this uber-boss that people voted into office. What am I even like?"

"You," Johnny said, glancing over at her. "Except you're more you."

"Nice try Johnny, but I'm serious. You're all obviously on top of your game in this alternate time. What's the point in even trying to come back here? Why not do something else like...shit, save Lin?"

"Doing that wouldn't have affected this time. It'd be some offshoot, or whatever the hell Kinzie called it."

"So why pick this one then? What's so damn special about it?"

There was a click, followed by the sound of static. _"Hey, you gonna order something, or just hold up the line?"_

Freckle Bitches' cheerful take out menu greeted them both, and the guy on the other side of the speaker coughed once for emphasis.

V cleared her throat and rattled off their order, moving forward as soon as she was able. Gat remained silent, something which was starting to bug her as she handed the food over, and she wondered if he had misinterpreted her question.

"You did hear me, right?"

"Loud and clear." He opened the bag and started fishing around for his food. "It's just a bitch to explain."

"Well give it the good ol' Johnny go then. You can break it down in five to ten minutes, right?"

"Keep on dreaming, boss."

"For the love of-"

Three shots hit the back windshield of the Emu, cracking the glass, but not punching through.

V sat up straight and slammed her foot down on the gas. The car flew forward, scraping the others in front of it as she swerved to the side. One of them spun as their tires were punched out, taking out at least one other vehicle as it lost control.

The blacked-out van in her rearview mirror dodged the accident entirely. Whoever was behind the wheel was a pro.

They fired again and she tried to keep moving, maneuvering the small vehicle through any spaces left on the road. In the meantime, Johnny had pulled an SMG out from under the passenger seat, frowning all the while. "Fucking tiny-ass car. This'll have to do."

He leaned out of the window and sprayed enough bullets to smash through the van's windshield. V had only enough time to gape at it before cutting to the right to avoid the hold up at the light. "Hold on!"

Gat held on tight, continuing to shoot as long as he could see the other car, and ducked inside as they went down the alley.

It wasn't as tight a fit as she expected, but it was still no road. The people walking through jumped out of the way as they zipped along, and she turned again to merge back into the traffic on the opposite side. Johnny kept his eyes on the road behind them as she pulled out every obscure twist and turn that she remembered, refusing to keep her speed down.

The silver car should've caught the eye of the cops, but luck was on their side as they kept from being stuck in one spot. When she finally came to a stop by the local Forgive and Forget, she turned to look behind them. "Anything?"

"Nope. Think you lost them when you cut around Rusty's. Don't think they were expecting that one."

She sighed in relief, slumping into her seat. "Shit."

"That's new, though."

"New?"

"Ultor is supposed to wait until after we shoot the shit out of them. They're stepping up." he replied, grinning like it was Christmas.

Something about that statement made her hair stand on end. "What the hell are you talking about? You make it sound like you've done this before."

The grin didn't slip, but there was something to it that she couldn't place. "Maybe."

"...How many times?"

"Kinzie's got some arbitrary tally going, but it doesn't matter. Each try is cut off from the other ones, so it doesn't make a difference what happens."

"And I wouldn't know how many times this has played out before?"

"No," he said, no longer smiling. "I'm the one popping in and out of time, not you."

She let her head hit the steering wheel. "This has to be karmic payback for all the crappy science fiction movies I used to watch. ...Oh, and Sliders."

"Sliders?"

"Shut up. I'm trying to cope," she muttered against the leather. "Goddamn Sliders."


	5. Chapter 5

"Strange." Matt clasped his hands together in front of his face as he looked over the code in front of him. "That's not good. That's not good at all."

The next few commands he fed into the system told him the exact same thing. One of the processes was incapable of handling his request, and that was unacceptable.

_That that would tax the system to its limits is absurd!_ "The boss sets off the equivalent of a nuclear warhead on a semi-regular basis with no ill results. Introduce a new season of Nyte Blayde built from the ground up and the system shudders. I suppose you can't account for taste."

"Seriously?"

Matt froze in his seat. He really needed to start facing the doorway. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed Shaundi's look of mild disgust. "It would be easier to explain if you would actually watch an entire episode before storming out."

She rolled her eyes. "Please. You weren't there at Camp David the few thousand times that Birk tried to discuss the 'depth' of its message, and I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone."

Making a mental note to flip to that segment in their timeline later, he twisted his seat to the side to face Shaundi better. "And that is the true tragedy. Even the boss can admit that there's more to it than what's displayed on the surface. Speaking of which, did the boss need anything? You never come by this area of the ship."

She took a few extra steps into the room, looking closely at the computers surrounding Matt. "No, actually. I might have heard a rumor that you're looking into something for Johnny."

"Oh?"

"Don't act coy," she said, putting a hand on the back of his chair to spin him around. "I know it's related to the boss."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that!"

Shaundi sighed. "Kinzie told me exactly what you were doing and even played a sound clip. Just drop it."

"All right, fine!" he conceded. "We're testing out possible outcomes in an isolated timeline. Johnny wanted to use an event from the boss's past, so that's what we're focusing on."

She leaned forward to read the screen, but Matt changed it before she could decipher any of it. "Miller..."

"That's not for anyone's eyes. At least not until there's been a few more revisions." After clicking around he pulled up exactly what she was looking for. "Here we are."

Shaundi scanned over the data, recognizing just enough to spot the change. It brought a rueful smile to her face. "On the list of things that shaped this gang, that would be at the top. You really need to input all of that crap to make it work?"

"Fascinating, isn't it? The data resulting from the change is even more so. Say you have a choice to make between two items, like a blue tie and a white one. In one instance you will pick blue, while in the other you will pick white. While you might be aware of picking the first choice, both instances can open up two separate pathways each isolated from the other. Traveling down one opens up more and more branches, stacking up more and more possibilities, leading to-"

"Literally any outcome. At least I think that's the point you were getting to," Shaundi said, stepping away from him a bit.

"But even that can be altered! Rewind back far enough and you can stack outcomes on top of outcomes. It's a stroke of genius. Repeat the same exercise twenty times and there's a chance that a change could sneak in or be introduced. If that can be found and exploited, then anything can be done within the safety of that time."

That piqued her interest. "Anything?"

"Absolutely." He turned back to the computer and began typing. "Say we shift the focus to you. You are already set on a predetermined path, so we can easily plot your steps up to this point. However, we could introduce an external stimulus that could lead you to either join the Saints at an earlier time, or not at all."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

He gave her a nervous smile. "Okay, maybe that was a bad example, but let's find you and see what we could do from there..."

The screen to their right came to life and Matt did a double-take. "Oh."

Shaundi stepped into his line of vision immediately, her mouth a thin line. "You've got five seconds to change that before I introduce an external stimulus to the back of your head."

"Another bad example! Damn debugging processes. Just going along and muddying the system. Let's try this one..."

* * *

V didn't even bother to park in an inconspicuous area on her way back. She straight-up plowed into a tombstone on the lot, pulled the parking brake and got out. Gat had hopped out a few streets back, so there would be no chance of anyone asking if Johnny had a long-lost sibling or evil twin.

He had his own business to deal with, but V almost wished he'd stuck around long enough to see how things were going to play out. Were her choices correct, or were they something that needed to be corrected? She would never know, and she had a feeling that he preferred it that way.

Still, the fact that she wanted him there just so she wouldn't second-guess herself was frustrating. She had to act with confidence – and she would – but how much of a mess was she leaving behind for him to clean up?

Making a mental note to give him hell about it later, she walked up to the church's side entrance and nodded at the Saints standing watch. They might've been toking up a storm, but she could see the guns hanging by their sides and the way they were watching the streets. Her people were on their A-game, and she needed to be as well.

"Yo, Johnny!" she yelled as she went inside. "Got some food you might want to dig into."

He was standing over by the back wall, looking at a map that hadn't been there this morning. She chucked the bag at him as he turned, giving him just enough warning to get it.

She didn't have any warning for Troy, though. He had been sitting on the crates by Johnny, lighting his cigarette. The worn expression on his face was still there, but he smiled when he saw her. The motion almost cracked his already split lip, and she had a feeling that he was lucky his nose wasn't broken.

"Hey, boss," he said. "Sorry I took so long."

The relief that she felt lasted long enough for her to notice Gat's irritation. He looked ready to throw the bag right back at her, but instead tossed it onto a nearby chair. "Real fucking cute there, V."

"You know it, but if you don't want the peace offering I'll gladly take it off of your hands. As for you," she replied, turning to Troy, "it must be your lucky day. I'm feeling generous to the point that I might excuse your absence during some of the worst _shit_ to ever hit this gang. The key word here, however, is might. Give me one good reason why I should."

Troy got to his feet and walked over to the map, giving Johnny a wide berth. "Something weird was going on around the time that Monroe got Julius. I went digging, found a few sources, and waited to confirm any of it before throwing it out over here."

"And whatever you found trumped our situation?"

"Knowing what I know now, yeah. You ever hear about Ultor?"

The image of the dark van came to the forefront of her mind, the men inside trained to pursue and kill. "I think I remember seeing a commercial or two in between Bobby and Amber reruns. How about you, Gat?"

"I think Eesh bought a few things from them once. Clothes and shit. You saying that they've got more going on than shoes and handbags?"

"A lot more. Ultor Unlimited's looking into quite a few things that a clothing place wouldn't. Real estate, military hardware, food, you name it." Troy said, ticking off each one with his fingers. "They want to expand, and removing the primary problem from the Row has helped them decide what they want to do next."

"Expand." V crossed her arms. "And the gang wars were one of the only things keeping them from moving in. ...Fuck me sideways."

"My guess is that they were hoping that losing Julius would throw us off, and blowing you up would be the final nail in the coffin."

V raised an eyebrow. "Johnny fill you in?"

Troy tilted his head to the side as he smoked his cigarette down to the filter, but managed to get the hint without alerting Johnny. He rubbed his eyes and she wondered if he even went to sleep after she left last night. "Yeah. I think he got his message across. ...Don't know what we'd do if you were dead right now, V."

"Well I'm not, so get over it," she shot, growing angry all over again. "Hughes failed last night, and Ultor failed this afternoon. We need to show them that we're not going to let anyone fuck around with us any more."

Troy lowered his cigarette, the same worry she saw yesterday written all over him. "They tried to take you out?"

"Right in the open!" V said, throwing her hands up. "I was pulling out of Freckle Bitch's and they immediately started riding my ass. Or at least an ominous looking van filled with guns did. I can only assume Ultor was trying to say hello."

Gat started cracking his knuckles, his grin matching the glint in his eye. "Then we need to pay them a visit. Common courtesy and all that."

V found herself mirroring his grin, but Troy didn't seem to share their enthusiasm. "There's one big problem with that."

"What?" they both asked.

"They've got something of ours. Or rather someone. Three guesses as to who."

She didn't need three. An empty bottle at her feet went straight for the wall, exploding the minute it hit.

* * *

Troy marked the known Ultor stores and facilities in town, the red Xs showing seven locations that were up for grabs. Johnny just about ripped the map off of the wall in response, claiming that one tank and a supply of rockets should flush out Dex while taking out Ultor, but that wasn't enough. Sure it would hurt the company, but they had no idea how much firepower they were sitting on.

As much as it pained her to wait, they had to plan. Rushing in fast would only kill whatever Saints she had left, and she was not about to throw her people away. Also, going toe to toe with Dex in this regard required skill and patience, something they were sorely lacking at the moment.

Gat couldn't sit still during this, however. He paced around, claiming that if he couldn't kill the fuckers he could at least torch their merch. V ended up giving him the thumbs up, because while it wasn't a declaration of war it did hit the corporate bastards where it hurt the most. The wallet.

Gat smirked at her as he got one of their flamethrowers hooked up and loaded into one of their convertibles. "You sure you don't want front seat tickets to the show, boss?"

"Oh, I do, but go ahead and get it started. I'll be by in five." she said, not bothering to correct him. "Try not to level the whole block."

"No promises." He hit the gas and sped off.

"Which means we have a whole ten minutes before Ultor decides to crush us. Nice." V sighed and turned around, expecting to see Troy, but apparently he hadn't followed her outside.

She went back inside and found him waiting in the office. Most of the weapons that Johnny had pulled out earlier had been put back except for the baseball bat he was examining. He turned when she came in and he handed it over. "I think this belongs to you."

V took it and flipped it around to look at the handle. Two letters were carved there, done haphazardly with one of her old knives. "So that's where the damn thing went. Good to know. I'll have to take it out for a spin later."

She leaned it against the desk and turned back to Troy, who was watching her carefully. "To give Ultor a proper introduction?"

"Why not? The poor thing's been stuck in storage. Ultor's as good a target as any." She raised her hand to his chin and moved it to the side so she could get a better look at the large bruise forming on his cheek. "Damn. How many hits did he get in?"

"Four, I think?" he said, wincing at the memory. "I thought he was going to shove my face in. Probably would've if the others hadn't pulled him off of me."

"It beats dying."

The grim look on his face told her exactly how he felt about that. She lowered her arm and he put a hand in his pocket to fish out another cigarette, stubbing his old one out on the ruined desk. "Yeah, it sure does. How long before you figure he finds out?"

"For your sake it'd better be never. I've done my part, the rest is up to you." He offered her his pack and she hesitated before taking it. "You did cut all ties to the cops, right?"

"I told them that after the explosion I wanted nothing to do with any other gang-related bullshit." His lighter flashed, and he lit her cigarette before getting to his. "So, they want to put me back on traffic. Small time stuff."

She exhaled, letting the smoke float off to their left. "You're waffling on me, Troy."

"It's going to take a few days to withdraw completely. The more I cover my ass while doing this, the less trouble the gang will have in the future."

"Then work fast." she said, fixing him with a hard stare. "If any Saint catches you prancing into the PD you're done. We can't have our people doubting their lieutenants, and I sure as hell don't want them doubting me. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure thing...boss."

There it was again. Her new title. It sounded just as ridiculous coming from Troy as it did from Johnny, but hearing it this time didn't make her want to bite his head off. "Damn straight. Now, we've got some shit to burn. With the headstart we gave Johnny I doubt there's anything left, but a girl can hope."

Troy chuckled and tossed her her bat. "Get ready to be disappointed."

Swinging it back and forth, she tested her grip, enjoying how good it felt to hold it again. "I knew I missed your cheerful optimism."


	6. Chapter 6

She couldn't remember being this uncomfortable around Troy in a long time. Sure, she had a perfectly good reason to feel that way, but putting a hard reset on the trust she'd built up over the last year hurt. It made her doubt a lot of things about him, when before he'd been one of the only people she thought she understood completely. It was such a reckless mistake in hindsight, but you were supposed to trust the people who would take a bullet for you. Or claimed they would at least.

It was something that the others wouldn't have hesitated to call her a dumb kid over, but the same trick had worked on them as well. ...And now thanks to her, it would continue to work for however long she decided to keep her mouth shut.

The weight of that choice wasn't lost on him at all.

Falling into old habits had to be one of his defense mechanisms, however, because while he avoided making eye contact, he did turn on the radio to their usual station. The fact that that was a reflex almost made her laugh.

He offered her another cigarette and she turned him down, watching as he lit it. At this rate he'd be done with the pack by the time they got to Johnny. "You're tense. I'd expect more of that with me behind the wheel, but you drive like an old woman."

Troy tapped the steering wheel in time to the music and kept his eyes on the road. "You ever drive with an old lady? My grandma drove like a bat out of hell. I still get nightmares from the driving lessons she tried to give us."

"Because she'd try to push eighty on the highway?" V joked.

"Nah, because she took a flying leap through a construction zone. 'I could've sworn there was a short cut there!' she'd say, but did anyone try to give her a damn map? No. Don't think that would've helped either." Troy glanced at her through the corner of his eye. "Reminds me of someone I know."

"Who, Gat?"

"Just admit to it, V. No one wrecks cars as frequently as you. Even that clown car you rolled up in is looking rough."

"Of course a silver car would show a ding or two, it's shiny and obnoxious as hell! ...But it's my chrome disaster, so lay off of it." she said, feeling a twinge of fondness for the thing. "Kept my ass alive, so that has to count for something."

The sound of sirens rose as they continued down the street, and V muted the radio so they could get a better idea of where they were coming from.

Troy let his arm hang out of the window and flicked his cigarette. "Looks like Johnny's been busy."

"Punch the gas, Troy. I want to be there when he gets to the sporting goods," she said, leaning forward in her seat. "Bike shorts be damned."

Her bat was already in her hands when they pulled up to the front of the scorched store. There had been a wall of glass lining the front, but all that remained was the frame holding it. The abandoned purple convertible appeared to be the culprit, but Johnny was nowhere in sight.

Half of the place did indeed appear to be on fire, so at least they had that to go off of. That, and the fire department spraying everything within a thirty-foot radius of them.

The cops had yet to show, but she'd give them five minutes more, tops. They piled out of the car and ran inside, taking note of the other Saints following Johnny's lead. Most had taken to lighting small fires by burning hats or socks then chucking them, but a large bonfire sat in the middle, fueled by a combination of tacky shoes and Ultor memorabilia. The sprinkler system had yet to kick in, so the firefighters focusing on putting that out didn't take any notice of the two random people skirting the group.

Burnt lycra hit their noses as they found Johnny in the back, still going strong as he picked targets at random to hit. Not that the mannequins ever stood a chance to begin with, but each one stood tall up until the point that they melted or fell into the other displays.

Something with feathers caught on the edge of her vision, and V just had to whistle at the disaster surrounding her. "Jesus. Just when I think we've run out of things to hand you you go ahead and surprise me."

"I don't ask for much," he said, looking downright proud of his handiwork, "though if you've got a rocket launcher I wouldn't mind trading up."

She laughed. "Keep dreaming big, Gat."

The bells going off in the store went silent, then started again as the sprinklers sputtered to life. V's hands went up to cover her head while Troy and Johnny didn't even bother.

"Attention, Saints!" None of them had a clear view of the front any more, but that had to be boys in blue. "Put down your weapons and slowly exit the store through the front."

"You motherfuckers think that'll stop us?" Gat yelled, riling the crowd. "Bring some fucking firepower and then we'll talk!"

The others gave a loud cheer and started to reach for their weapons. Troy saw this and frowned, throwing his ruined cigarette to the ground. "Now that you've slapped them with the fucking gauntlet, can we get out of here? Our window's narrowed down to a damn sliver."

"I think Troy has a point, Johnny." Already soaked, she reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Cool it and we can hit another one later."

He shrugged her off and dropped the flamethrower, pulling out a handgun instead. "I don't think they've gotten our message."

"This isn't exactly subtle! Now come on, we've got other things to-"

A bullet whizzed by her head, causing her to shove Gat out of the way as more tried to hit their mark. The wooden shelf they collided with hid them from sight, but wasn't meant for proper cover. When more shots went off, Johnny pushed her down, covering her as he hoped to score a lucky hit.

"Troy," V shouted, gripping her bat tightly, "get your ass over here!"

"Working on it, boss!" she heard between scattered shots.

A figure in black darted around the other side of the shelf and she swung the bat right into their knees. It was far from a home run, but the shock sent them falling to the side where she delivered a second hit to their helmet's faceplate. The crack that earned got her adrenaline pumping, and the next swing she took was more of a winner than the last.

Johnny stayed on her heels as they moved towards the emergency exit, but the water made the trip a lot trickier than it needed to be.

Each jump over the scattered junk and bodies made her feel like she was running track instead of dodging a prison sentence. Then she hit a large puddle. Her boot skidded as her feet flew out from under her, and with a yelp she hit the floor.

Most of the impact went straight to her back, leaving her squinting at the dark ceiling. Johnny yelled something nearby, but the man in front of her was already lining up his shot.

A loud sound rang out and the man pitched forward onto the ground. Troy came around the corner, his handgun raised. "You okay, V?"

"Peachy!" she said, giving him a thumbs up. "When your timing's on, it's on."

"And when it's off, it's a piece of shit," Johnny cut in, grabbing the back of V's T-shirt to pull her to her feet. "You two mind moving this conversation outside? We've got some escaping to do. Boss's orders."

Adjusting her top as casually as possible, she threw her hat back on and pointed her bat towards the doors ahead. "Straight ahead, fellas. Don't want to disappoint a lady now, do you?"

* * *

The alley in the back did not give them a lot of options. One way spat them out onto the street that they had been avoiding, while the other led to the back of the shopping center. While the store they were at was a lost cause, that didn't mean that the others weren't.

A well-aimed shot made short work of the lock on an employee entrance there, and the three ran past the screaming workers with no resistance. Once they made it to the street another problem popped up. No car.

"Taxi!" V held out her hand, then blocked the path of one by heading into the road.

It screeched to a stop in front of her, and Johnny pointed his gun right at the poor sod who was driving it. The man undid his belt as V climbed into the passenger seat, and Johnny threw him to the side as he got behind the wheel. The minute Troy got in they took off, speeding down a side road that would take them as far from that clusterfuck as possible.

V punched the air. This might have been the second time in less than twenty four hours that she was wet and miserable, but was it worth it? "Fuck yes."

"Don't see anything tailing us," Troy said, looking back behind them. "I think we actually pulled this off."

Gat checked the mirrors then slid the car onto a main road. "Course we did. Saints get shit done. Where to now?"

She looked down at her clothes, then picked up one of her wet pigtails. "You know what? I want something dry to wear. Let's hit my place real quick so I can actually get some stuff packed up."

"You moving out?" Troy asked, leaning on the back of her seat.

"Yeah. If I'm going to start managing things, I might as well live at one of the cribs instead of across town." The fact that I don't know if I'm safe there any more is also a factor, but I'll keep that little detail to myself. "Got to show the gang that I'm a hands on kind of leader. Willing to get my hands dirty, you know?"

They turned onto her street and Johnny hit the brakes. Black vans and cop cars crowded around one building, and V knew it had to be hers.

"Back up. Back up!" she said, hitting the side of the drivers seat. Gat's maneuver almost crushed a moped as they spun around and left, and some of the cops had to have noticed that. "Real smooth there, Johnny."

"Smooth enough. We're gone and they aren't chasing after us, right?"

Troy chuckled. "Sure, but why chase us if they already know where we're going? We're some of the most high-profile people here. They have to know where to find us by now."

"This is bad," V said, chewing her lip. "Very bad. Johnny, I'd call Aisha if I were you."

His phone was already out, but after a quick look at it he threw it to the side. "Piece of shit's not working."

Oh, no, no, no... She pulled hers out of her wet pocket and stared at the blank screen. Dead. "Troy?"

"Nothing." He held up his phone and it was dead as well.

"Fuck." Her fist hit the car door and she took in a deep breath. "Okay, plan B then. Find a pay phone. We're grabbing Aisha and moving to the cribs. Looks like it's war after all."


	7. Chapter 7

 Aisha was angry, but safe. She had been out shopping when Ultor decided to raid Johnny's place, and the Saints nearby had kept an eye on her without drawing any extra attention. She had initially been confused when they pulled up in their borrowed taxi, but their comment of, 'get in, we lit something on fire we shouldn't have' told her exactly what she needed to know. They had acted and Ultor had responded.

They left out the fact that their response could be violent enough to affect her, but Aisha wasn't dumb. A visit like this meant things had already gone south, and she got in without another word.

Picking her up without Ultor getting the drop on them had been one thing working in their favor. The second was the fact that while their apartments had been cut off from them, their cribs weren't. That was a relief, but luck wasn't giving them a break. Ultor was.

V didn't know what pissed her off more, the brass balls behind the gesture or the pity.

So, they went straight for the nearest place they had, which happened to be Price's ex-mansion. With Saints going through it 24/7, it was one of their more active strongholds.

Her sudden promotion meant that she could have the run of the place, but she refused to step within a foot of the master bedroom. While they had taken the place and cleared out Price's things, she still didn't feel comfortable enough to occupy the same space, and she'd sooner burn the room down than sleep in the same bed.

The smaller bedroom she holed herself away in was a much better fit. It also worked with what she had, which as of right now was the clothes on her back and anything else she had shoved in the closet on one of her random shopping jags.

She pulled out a red tank top and a pair of shorts once she was done cleaning up, and flopped onto the bed. Pulling her hat over her eyes, she wondered if she'd be able to get any sleep at all tonight. Would it even be worth trying?

She had shit to do. They all did, but what if she just wanted to lie down for a bit? Just stop thinking for a little while?

Her hands pressed down on her hat and she sighed deeply. _Good luck with that if you can't even get your mind to shut up for five damn minutes._

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tightened her grip on her hat and sent it across the room. It hit the floor with a dull thud.

"I give that a 4.5."

V folded her hands on her stomach and tried not to smile. She failed. "You really need to learn how to knock."

Johnny shrugged and knocked twice on the dresser he was leaning against. "That throw was still lame as hell."

"Fuck you." She sat up and folded her legs under her. "What's up? Aisha doing better?"

"Yeah. Eesh wasn't happy when I told her what was happening, but that's what's happening. You start some shit, you own it." He rubbed the back of his neck and she could've sworn he almost looked tired. "Ultor was that fucking close to getting their hands on her. Any slower and-"

"We'd be hunting down the guys that took her. I know," she said. "They won't get within a foot of her ever again. I promise."

"Isn't that my line?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "Probably, but I don't give a damn. This isn't a dick-waving contest. Ultor's trying to hit us as hard as possible, and going for the people we care about is a sure-fire way to hurt us."

"What about you? Anyone we need to get extra cover to?"

"No," V said, shaking her head. "Everyone I care about is here, so..." Her words trailed off and she wished she had her hat to hide under. She tried to avoid looking at Johnny, but she caught the odd way he was studying her and frowned. "What?"

"Nothing. I just remember you talking about family once or twice. Basic shit."

"Well, let me make it clearer. You assholes _are_ my family, okay? Sure, I didn't just spring into existence, but that part of my life doesn't matter anymore. I'm the boss. You want to hurt me, you hurt my people." 

"Some'll still hurt more than others, V," he said, earning him a scowl. "You just got to know where to aim."

* * *

 "So, this Dex problem..."

V threw a dart and it hit the bottom left section of a newspaper pinned to the wall. "We need it fixed fast. He had the inside track on every operation going on in this gang, and we can assume that Ultor knows what's what by extension. Definitely one of the downsides to trusting a person who loves micromanagement."

Another dart landed in the middle of the headline, proclaiming that Stilwater was some wasteland of misery. Old news. Gat took the next dart and didn't bother to aim. It hit the large exclamation mark. "He lived for that shit. Probably should've been the first sign."

"Being organized isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's paying off for him now more than ever." Troy took the dart V offered and threw it towards the middle of the paper. "Ultor's got resources. All he has to do is plan and ask."

V tapped the dart against her chin. "Do you think he's in their systems?"

"Systems? You mean their databases?"

"Yeah. Ultor's a corporation. They print out excess paperwork just to drop it down onto the grunts occupying the ground floor. They've got to have a paper trail leading back to Dex."

"If that fails, do you think it'd be worth getting into his place?" Johnny asked.

Her dart hit close to where Troy's was sitting. "Don't know yet. The amount of security at our places is probably nowhere close to what they have at his. Might be worth going incognito to see what he has there later, though."

"If we need an area to work on first, I'd go for those databases. Find a way into those and we'll know just as much about Ultor as they know about us." Troy pointed out. "Getting in's the hard part, but once you do that, I don't think it'd be tough to bring the whole thing down." 

V folded her hands behind her head and sighed. "I can't hack to save my life. So, maybe we should find someone that can."

* * *

 "Which is why I suggest that I step in and-"

"No."

Matt's tentative smile went brittle. "It's not that terrible of an idea."

"No, but you've been looking for the first excuse to hop in," Johnny said, sharpening his knife. "This isn't some interactive story bullshit."

Matt pushed the keyboard aside and turned towards Gat. "Time travel and fixing past mistakes does lend itself well to more than a few stories, but that's not the reason why I'm offering to go. I took a look at Ultor's security and the information they're storing, and breaking through it is no easy task."

The blade caught the light and Johnny examined its edge. "I get that, but why don't you get someone else for the job like Shaundi? She used to do shit like that all the time."

"She's...occupied." Johnny looked up and Matt pursed his lips. "I tried to find her in this timeline, and even if we could approach her, I don't think she has the necessary skill set yet."

"Then get Shaundi to do it. Shaundi-Shaundi. Not past-Shaundi or whatever you'd call her."

"She wouldn't be fast enough!" Matt asserted, his voice going up in volume. "Ultor's working on a time limit. If we leave things the way they are right now they'll try to level the strongholds within a week's time. That's after a failed attempt by the boss to hit their systems using some dated, subpar hacker."

"I'll tell her to raise their fucking standards then."

"That still won't get you the end that you want. Too much time will be wasted chasing leads and it could come down to one of two things, Ultor or revenge.” Matt said, gesturing wildly. “Though both aren't really separated from each other when it comes to you two."

“Your point?”

“The boss won't be able to finish this without our help. Specifically my help.”

"And you're the only person who can make this work?"Gat asked, pointing the knife at Matt. The hacker did his best not to flinch. "You got some numbers on this?"

"Numbers? Since when did you care about-"

" _His numbers give them a success rate of ninety percent, and that's being generous."_ Kinzie replied, using the intercom. _“I could guarantee at least ninety-seven, but the fleet won't run itself.”_

Matt glared up at the corners of the room, his eyes narrowing. “I thought I'd muted that...” 

“All right, all right!” Gat yelled, his patience wearing thin. “You think you're the only one who can pull a miracle out of your ass, fine. Do it. Just know what happens if you fuck this up, kid.”

 He hadn't put the knife away yet. Matt tugged on his scarf. “I think I have an idea.”

* * *

 “Hey boss, it's for you.”

V took the phone from the Saint offering it and held it up to her ear. “Yo.”

“ _Hey. How's it going?”_

V glanced over her shoulder at the other side of the room where Johnny was taking potshots at plates being thrown into the air. "You're trying to drive me nuts, aren't you?"

He chuckled, and hearing him over the phone while seeing him made it all the stranger. " _Nah, you'd know if I was trying. Got a minute? I've got an idea I'd like to throw your way."_

"Shoot."

" _It'd be easier to pitch away from the crib."_

The corner of her mouth turned up. "Thinking about stealing me away again? I'll only promise to go if bullets aren't involved. Freckle Bitch's is debatable."

" _That's ruining a perfectly good time, V."_

A shot went off and a particularly ugly plate exploded. "Take it or leave it."

“ _Hard ass. Okay, head down to Brown Baggers and we'll meet you there.”_

“We?” He hung up and V was left staring at the phone in her hand. “Prick.” She walked over to where Troy was pacing around and gestured towards the door. “Hey, I've got a good lead on the hacker. You going to hold down the fort or just wear a hole into the floor?”

“I've been thinking about a few things I need to check as well. You know, sensitive stuff.” He leaned in to try and keep the conversation between the two of them. “Something might've turned up at the department.”

“You know that they probably saw you running with us, right?”

“Yeah, but that's easy enough to deal with.” he said, brushing it off. “I'm 'finishing up' my time here, so any extra info I get is a bonus. Shouldn't piss them off too much.”

Troy hadn't left her personal space yet. She wasn't sure if she wanted to punch him in the side or pull him closer. “Just don't get sloppy.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “I've done it this long. Won't be much longer, V.”


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, _wow_." V eyed the mismatched duo as she walked around the side of Brown Baggers and put a hand over her mouth. "Where did you find this one, Gat? In a rave, or in the manga section of a half-priced bookstore?"

The black-haired goth gaped at her, clearly offended. "Both are perfectly acceptable! Though, as to why anyone would pay for a poor translation and even worse formatting is beyond me."

"Whoops, my bad." V said, taking in the neon blue accents on his coat and his just as bright blue lipstick. "Still, when you said hacker, I wasn't expecting something this...hackery."

"You're the one that picked him up, boss." Johnny said, trying not to laugh.

She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and popped one in her mouth. "True, but only half-true. That one's on future me. Smoke?"

She offered him the pack and he shook his head. "Nah, it's not really my thing any more."

"Really?" Her eyebrows went up. "Or are you just waiting for a good time to steal mine?"

"What?" He paused for a second then winced. "Oh, right. There's a reason for that."

"Tell me."

"A few years from now you're going to get sick of wheezing and setting small house fires, so you decide to quit. Threw everything out, made us all swear to help, fine, whatever. The problem was you kept pulling cigarettes out of fucking nowhere. I swear you'd have them stashed in any small space that could fit them, and after throwing packs over the side of the HQ we'd find you smoking like a chimney five minutes later. When that happened I'd just take them from you, and that kept on going until you finally decided to switch to the damn patch. So, bad habit. No big deal."

"Oh. Well, just warn me next time, okay?" she said, keeping an eye on him as she lit her cigarette. It hadn't bothered her before, but the weird intimacy of the gesture still threw her for a loop. "So Blue, you got a name?"

"Plenty, but usernames are useless offline." Johnny elbowed him in the ribs and the hacker backpedaled. "Matt! Matt Miller, at your service."

 _Jumpy, isn't he?_ "Matt, eh? You any good?"

He clasped his hands in front of him. "My reputation does precede me, but due to our special circumstances, I'll understand if that means next to nothing to you. However, I will promise that any system you present to me will be nothing more than child's play."

"That's quite the boast," V said, not breaking eye contact.

"It's not a boast if it's true, is it?"

"Impress me then." Matt looked a bit lost, and she couldn't help grinning at that. "I want to know if I'm getting my money's worth. Do a couple of things for me and we'll see about letting you get to the good stuff."

"I can understand your hesitation, but we don't have a lot of extra time to lose on silly things or auditions," he insisted, taking a few steps closer.

She held a hand up and Matt froze in his tracks. "Future-me might have given you her seal of approval, but that's not who I am. Not yet. You want me to trust you? Earn it." She turned to Gat and inclined her head. "Johnny did that without even blinking. You think you can do that?"

It took him a few seconds, but he nodded. "Yes."

"Good, because I'd hate to call older me an even shittier judge of character. I mean, Keith David's the Vice President, and that's pretty kick ass." Wiping the silly grin off of her face, she threw her cigarette down and stomped it out. "All right, now to get down to business. I need information on Dex."

"I gathered as much. What would you like to know?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Everything, but for now I'd just settle for his location. ...And whatever shit he's hiding in his apartment."

"That's one of the first places that was cleared out. I don't see how going back there would-"

"No, his new apartment."

Matt put a hand on his chin and let himself think for a few seconds. "That would make more sense, wouldn't it?"

"Get me whatever's in there, and you're a Saint. A bonafide vintage Stilwater Saint."

There was a bit of a twinkle in Matt's eye and Johnny groaned. "Great. You make it sound like we're letting him join our fucking fan club."

"That's...pretty much what a gang is, except with more tagging and less fundraising," she said, taking a few steps backwards. "Anyway, there's a bottle of rum with my name on it in there, and you've got some numbers to crunch. You think you can keep an eye on him, Johnny?"

"Yeah, but babysitting's a bit low, boss."

V winked at him. "Make it work, and I'll save the next bottle for you. Happy hunting you two, and you'd better slap on some purple before you come back, Miller!" she replied in a sing-song voice, jogging out of the alley.

* * *

"The penthouse suite is getting to be quite cliché at this point," Matt said, tapping away at his laptop. "I wonder if that's part of a plan to hide in plain sight."

Gat leaned back in his chair and barely resisted the urge to spit on the floor. "Plan? Dex's plan right now is to put every other douchebag to shame. He's sold out, cashed in, and taken the express elevator to what he thinks is the top."

Matt took a sip of his espresso and frowned. "It's a bit too obvious to put your new asset in such a prominent location, though. You're painting a large target on him. Wouldn't they be better off hiding him?" He silently cursed the outdated internet connection, then changed his mind so he could complain about it anyway. "Ugh. I really underestimated how slow things were back then, and the technology's practically archaic."

"Fucking A, man. You need to get unplugged."

"I'm sitting in a coffee shop discussing plans with you. Exposing myself to actual sunlight for the first time in ages. Shouldn't that count for something?"

"Nope."

Matt sighed. "Of course." He continued searching and ultimately came to the same conclusion. Dexter Jackson was going to be getting some luxury accommodations courtesy of the best that Ultor had to offer.

Johnny sat up in his seat, shifting positions again. The wait was beginning to grate on them both, but at least when Matt got bored he didn't feel the urge to flip tables or go on a small rampage. "I'm just trying to make sure that this isn't an attempt to lure the boss out. We both know that Dex has enough information to end the Saints. Let's not speed that along any more than necessary."

The mumbled response from Johnny wasn't clear, but he stayed put.

A large group of people settled into the area right next to theirs, and Matt wrinkled his nose at the intrusion. "We should probably move soon. I have an address, but I don't think this is the best place to check their surveillance system."

"Your weird spy-senses trying to kick in?"

"Spy-senses? Of course not, but we should try to move to a closer location. If I get in on the first try, we'll want to head there before they have to chance to recover and double their defenses."

Gat leaned an elbow on the table. "So we get to finally do something?"

"We certainly do," Matt replied, closing his laptop. "You are armed, right?"

Gat pulled his gun out and shot at the large bundle of balloons floating over the noisy crowd. Those that didn't explode scattered as the group screamed and put their hands over their heads. "Cardinal rule, kid. Don't leave home without it."

* * *

"Good morning! I hear you're having a problem with the cameras upstairs?"

The man at the front desk gave Matt a strange look, then noticed the security uniform he was sporting. He appeared to still be waking up, which wasn't a surprise given how early it was. "Uh, you're the technician?"

"Specialist, actually," Matt said, keeping his posture straight, "but there's no need to be picky about it. Now, was it just the system on one floor, or are there others that have been affected?"

Pulling out a sticky note, the man read over the information there before glancing up again. "Should just be the one on the top floor. The security system's new, so I'm surprised it's acting up like this."

"It's probably just a short. Should only take an hour to pinpoint the problem and get them up and running again. Nothing my assistant and I can't handle!"

Matt's good cheer didn't do anything to ease the deep frown on the man's face. "Call us if anything else comes up," he said, handing over a walkie talkie.

Decked out in the same gear as Matt, Johnny took it and gave the man a thumbs up.

The two then calmly walked over to the elevators, bags in tow, and waited for the doors to close. Matt fidgeted for a good minute before Gat turned his head a fraction of an inch. "Assistant?"

That earned a nervous chuckle. "Heavy lifting mostly. ...You know I'm not serious about that, right?"

"You mess up and I'm leaving you to clean it."

"I was just beginning to feel reassured and safe as well. A shame, really." Matt put a hand to his ear and tapped the small headset hidden there. "Shaundi, do you copy?"

There was a small static-filled noise, then she connected. _"Yes. Don't turn this into a Bond film."_

"You're my handler right now, so I need to make sure that you're present! Once I'm in place I'll have access to the cameras, but I'll need a second set of eyes just in case one of us is in danger of being compromised. You do have access, I hope?"

" _Yeah, I can see the hallway leading out of the elevator on the top floor. There's a few men, but not too many."_

"And no sign of Dex?" Johnny asked.

" _No, I don't see him. You're both sure that Johnny won't be recognized, right?"_

"If Dex isn't there, then yes. If not, then we'll have to hope that a baseball cap and sunglasses will have to do." Matt pulled out a PDA and drew up the floor plans. " _If_ Johnny doesn't kill him first. That's more of a concern."

Gat cracked his knuckles and picked up the duffel bags. "No guarantees."

The doors opened and they made their way down the hall to where the separate observation room was kept. The Ultor employee standing by the door kept her eyes on them, but relaxed once Matt flashed his clearance badge. Stepping aside, she let him use his keycard, and remained silent when the lock disengaged. Matt nodded to her briefly then went inside, letting the door close behind him and Johnny.

When the lock reset, he let out a sigh of relief. "All right, objective one complete. Now to get to work on the next." He took a seat in front of the computer and signed in using the username and password combo he had generated earlier to go with his background. "Anything on the cameras?"

Johnny was checking them closely, and shook his head. "Nah. Just three or four guys scattered around. You sure Dex was even here?

"Yes, but I'm sure you want more than my word to go off of."

He pulled up the available video files and started to go through one filmed the day before. One figure in a suit stood out, and Matt didn't have to ask Johnny if that was him. The seething look he was leveling at the screen said enough. "And there's your evidence. Ultor probably has him over at corporate right now. They're probably getting their strategy down, so that gives us just enough of a window to work here."

" _I can confirm that. Should be easy sailing for you both as long as nothing strange happens."_

"Exactly. Now to start phase two," Matt said, ignoring the groan over the radio. "Johnny, you're on point for this. The signal that I'm transmitting has disabled all cameras on this level. Since our unofficial task is to repair them, I have a sensor that will need to be placed on the side of each one to restore them. It should only take a few seconds to clear everything up, so using the sensor should be the last thing you do. Until then, however, you have free reign to check everything, provided the guards don't take notice of you."

Johnny crossed his arms. "So I'm the one that has to actually follow this cloak and dagger bullshit."

"Yes? It shouldn't be difficult with Shaundi and I assisting you, but if you tread lightly and avoid the guards, everything should go according to plan."

" _Speaking of guards..."_

There was a beep as the lock disengaged, and Matt dusted his uniform off to make sure that nothing was out of place. Johnny, on the other hand, smiled at the guard walking in. "Yo." The guard didn't get a chance to get a word out as Johnny grabbed them by the head and twisted. Hard. Any struggle ended with the crack, and he let the body slump to the floor.

"Was that even necessary?" Matt squawked, gaping at the dead guard. "The object here was not to raise their suspicions! I spent hours carefully building our data files so that no one would even think to raise an eyebrow at our involvement, and you choose to do that?"

"Look," Gat said, turning to Matt, "I don't sneak around. I walk in, do my thing, and walk out. You said these cameras aren't working, right? That gives me time to kill those motherfuckers, search the apartment, fix the cameras, and get out."

" _While also hiding the bodies. I don't think security's going to be happy seeing half of their staff laid out by one of their technicians."_ Shaundi added.

"Details, details. Either way, we get what we want, while also thinning their numbers."

"Shaundi," Matt asked, gathering his bearings, "are you seeing any major changes to the timeline?"

" _...No. Looks like Johnny was always going to pick off the Ultor guards. Serves the bastards right. But at least this happened now instead of later with the head of the security staff. That's a branch that doesn't deserve to see the light of day."_

"Some small favors are so very small," he mumbled.

"We done talking here? Yeah? Good." Johnny picked the body off of the floor by the straps and dropped it into Matt's arms, nearly bowling the computer chair over. "Now, you cover this, and I'll take care of all the other shit we talked about earlier."

Matt wrapped his arms around the guard, but tried not to hold them too close. "This? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Gat shrugged and grabbed one of the bags on the floor. "Hide it, throw it over the side of the building, whatever. Don't want any other guards seeing that, right?"

He left before Matt could answer. Somewhere over the line in his ear there was a snort. _"Good talk there, team leader."_

"...I'm starting to remember why I never opted to become a field agent."


	9. Chapter 9

"I don't believe it. Everything you've built up over the last few months you've forgotten!"

"That's a fucking lie. Just because I don't practice every day doesn't mean that I've-" Asha ducked around, latched onto her arm. and flipped her neatly over her shoulder. V's face hit the floor, and the breath flew right out of her lungs. The mat did little to dull the impact, but Asha never did pull her punches. "...O-okay, so maybe I've slipped a bit," V wheezed.

"Pathetic."

Asha crouched down to wind her arm around V's windpipe, but V pushed up hard enough to knock the agent off-balance, before sending an elbow straight into her side. She fell back, and V spun around to face her, both of her hands up. "Now this is more like it."

Asha's lip curled. "Fighting dirty?"

"Hey, where I'm from it's called surviving," she argued, bouncing on the balls on her feet. "I'm not going through fifty perfect fighting forms just to kick one guy's ass. I'm going for the sweet spot every time."

The low swing towards her kidneys told her that Asha obviously felt the same way right now. Blocking that left her open for a backhanded slap, sending her head flying to the side. V threw up her arms as Asha sent another punch her way, taking two or three hits before grabbing and twisting the agent's arm.

"Your grip's getting weak," Asha ground out.

"It'll hold long enough to kick your ass."

She pushed against V's hold and threw her head forward. V fell back to avoid it, any leverage she had gone in an instant. Her back hit the floor and Asha loomed above her, victorious.

V grit her teeth. "God, you're one hard bitch, Asha."

"You're not supposed to talk, remember?"

She wanted to slap the smug look right off of her face. "Bite me."

"This wouldn't happen if you actually used the programs Matt set aside for you," Asha said, letting her go. "You're supposed to maintain peak physical performance. Instead you're starting to resemble a potato."

V clambered to her feet, ignoring how sore she was feeling. "Really? You go for the tuber?"

"I'm being serious. You should be training every day. Instead I think you spend more time thinking about work rather than doing it."

"Hey, I got in plenty of training when I was trying to save our fucking lives from Zinyak. Nothing's going to implode if I decide to take a small vacation." She stretched her arms over her head and popped her neck. "Wouldn't hurt you to think about one, too."

Asha shook her arms out and began stretching as well. "I've got at least four different programs to try, and Matt's designing new ones every day. Inactivity leads to stagnation, and I can't afford to grow complacent."

"Are all MI6 Agents like this?"

"Most."

"Then why don't you rope Matt into this more? All this time and I've only ever seen him come up with shit for you to do. ...And Nyte Blayde, but that's a different story entirely."

"He trains when he can. Though, from what I understand, he's putting that aside to deal with a special request at the moment."

"Special...? Oh, you mean that." V grinned. "Well, I'm starting to admire how hands-on Matt's becoming. Tackling giant mega-corporations, sticking it to the man... Pretty neat. Though he could be showing off for Johnny's benefit. I know I would."

"Please," Asha said, rolling her eyes. "If anything, he should be training more for scenarios like the one you've shoved him into. Field work in a place out of his depth and time-"

"I don't remember you complaining when giant reptiles were involved. Or when he suggested dino-saddles."

"First, that's an awful term, and I hope to never hear it again. Second, a good agent is prepared for anything, but no one ever brings things like dinosaurs into the equation."

"Bet you have at least one training program devoted to that now, right?"

"Two, with one more in production." She narrowed her eyes. "You've pushed me off topic. I don't see why since it's an important one."

"Asha, you're worrying too much," V replied, placing a careful hand on her shoulder. "The best kind of experience is gained through action, not a pre-programmed sim. You know that better than anyone. Matt's probably adjusting just fine, and with Johnny there I can't even imagine what could go wrong."

* * *

_"_ _This is a disaster. There's no other word for it. A disaster. I'm cutting off alarms as fast as you're setting them off, and I can't believe I deluded myself into thinking this could be a perfect stealth-oriented mission."_

"There's no volume setting to this, right?" Johnny asked, tossing another guard to the ground before beating their face in. "No mute button?"

" _No luck there, Johnny,"_ Shaundi replied. _"Contact is kind of important when it's the only thing linking you back to your own time."_

Matt cut back in, still panicked. _"And did I mention that I'm still cutting off the alarms that you're setting off? Are you even bothering to look around before placing those bugs?"_

"Bugs? Thought they were sensors." Johnny left the guard in the middle of the hall and stalked over to the camera, eying it briefly before slapping the device onto it.

" _Does it matter? Just get in the apartment and clear that out! I've managed to get into Ultor's systems, but I need more time to establish a suitable link."_

He crammed the guard between the side of a vending machine and the wall, and eventually came up to the actual entrance to Dex's place. The apartment didn't take up the whole floor, but it was a hell of an upgrade compared to the old place he used to stake out. Johnny scanned his card, swore when it failed, then tried again until the light on the card reader flashed green.

The door slid open and he almost chucked his card at it. "Cheap piece of shit."

Lights flickered on at the detection of movement, revealing a mostly empty space. He stomped inside, trying to spot anything that looked like life had actually been there. Dark walls, fancy furniture, and not a single photograph. Either Dex had been shoved in here on short notice, or he was just as much the cold snake that Johnny believed he was.

" _Cameras should be in the corners. There's a couple in the main bedroom, but they're on the side opposite from the door. Nothing complicated,"_ Matt noted.

Johnny set the sensors in the main room then walked over to the windows lining the side of the apartment. "Don't think we're going to find much here. When Dex cut us out, he cut us out."

" _Should be something there worth taking, though. Check the bedroom?"_

It was locked. That drew a smile from him as he grabbed the statue by the door and used it to break it open. The giant egg, or whatever the hell it was, broke it with ease. Shaundi sighed from the other end of the line, but didn't say anything to indicate that they were screwed yet. As much as he enjoyed trashing Dex's space, there was a limit, and he didn't want to go over it. Not this time.

This room was just as plain as the last, but sitting on the gray comforter of the bed was a bag. He unzipped it and turned it upside down, scattering papers everywhere. "Shit."

" _Did you find something?"_

Most of it was filled with gibberish and Dex's scattered notes, but throwing it around had made it almost impossible to tie one thing to another. Half-tempted just to take the whole thing and go, Johnny fished around for anything resembling actual English and found a torn piece of paper with a number written on it.

"Got a number. Either of you want to check it out?"

Shaundi spoke up first. _"On it."_ He read it off and she laughed a second later. _"Vogel! That's a contact number for Dane Vogel."_

"That motherfucker? Should've known."

" _Give that to the boss and I think that should do nicely. I'd skip burning everything else to a crisp, though."_

"What?"

" _I've got a botched timeline where you set the bag on fire and you don't want to go there."_

He shoved everything back into the bag and tossed it back where it was supposed to go. "Couldn't have been that bad-"

" _No, you don't want to go there,"_ she insisted. _"There's fucked, and then there's thoroughly fucked."_

" _...Johnny?"_

Shaundi went silent and he raised an eyebrow at Matt's tone. "You done?"

" _Yes, and I hope you're done as well, because while I've established a connection, I think our time here's over."_

He tossed the last two sensors up and left the room, pulling his gun out. "Guards finally get a clue?"

" _The others? Yes. I've shut down the elevators to give us extra time, but we need to head towards an exit."_

" _I can back him up on that,"_ Shaundi said, beginning to sound urgent. _"You've got a head start, but wait five minutes longer and we'll have to call this session fucked."_

" _Head towards the stairs leading to the roof and I'll be there shortly."_

Grabbing the stuff he dragged over with him, he made his way over to the only exit available to him in the apartment. The door opened up to the outside and he climbed the stairs two at a time.

"Think they've got a helicopter?"

_"Oh, they've got one all right,"_ Shaundi piped in. _"Get your asses to the roof and maybe you'll get a chance to show off a little."_

The black chopper at the top did show some promise. He picked off the guards waiting there and ran up to the platform to get it warmed up. "You're killing my stride, kid. Where are you?"

_"Almost...there!"_

He heard something slam open, and Matt scrambled up the side of the platform soon after. "Is it on? Do you know how to fly it?"

"I know how to crash one." He flipped a switch and the blades began spinning, faster and faster. "Don't know if that's what you're aiming for."

Matt buckled himself in and swallowed. "Lovely. ...Please don't do any barrel rolls. I might throw up on you."

It shook as it lifted up and Johnny laughed when Matt braced his arms on the frame. "Aim out the side and I think we'll be okay."

* * *

Shaundi, Asha, and the boss watched the feed, all noticing the way the helicopter rocked in the air.

"Did Johnny ever learn how to fly? You know, officially?" Shaundi asked, turning to V.

"Don't remember, actually."

Asha put a hand to her temple and sighed deeply. "I hate you all."


	10. Chapter 10

V opened her eyes and turned her head over on her pillow. She'd actually fallen asleep. Slept through most of the night too, but someone was knocking loudly on her door and the minute her eyes opened she knew she wouldn't be able to relax again.

Throwing the sheet back, she pulled down her camisole and checked to see if her braid was still in. When she was satisfied she threw it over her shoulder and got to her feet, yawning all the way to the door. She opened it a hair and blinked lazily. "Morning."

Troy had his hands in his pockets. "Morning. Mind if I come in? I checked out that thing I mentioned earlier and wanted to talk to you one on one about it."

"Thing." She scratched the back of her head as she waited for her brain to finish waking up. "Wait, _that_ thing. It can't wait?"

The dead serious look he was giving her told her no.

"Didn't think so. You better get your ass in here then," she mumbled, throwing her door open.

He walked past her and she closed the door behind him. It didn't lock, but she didn't need that right now, just some privacy. Once that was done she walked over to her bed and plopped down on the frame at the foot of it. He stood awkwardly nearby, as if he was thinking of sitting down beside her, but decided against it.

"How early is it? If it's before eight, break it to me gently, because I'm not wearing pants and I won't hesitate to kick you out."

Troy tried to keep a straight face. "It's after twelve."

V turned to her clock. The bright orange numbers flashed 12:38 PM over and over. "Fuck. _Fuck._ That late? No one even think to wake me up?"

"No one who wanted to live through the morning. Though, I might've told a few people to leave you alone so you could get some sleep. Did you even get any the night before?"

She shook her head. "A few shitty hours. Still feel kind of shitty now, but I can't do much about that without help from caffeine. So, you wanted to tell me something?"

"I went by the station to see how things were going. Thought it'd be an in-and-out, nothing new, so on and so forth," he said, gesturing with a hand.

"And?"

"Everyone was short of flipping their shit. Any order we had before was gone. I had no idea what was going on until I saw men in suits trawling down the hall hand in hand with men in Ultor uniforms. Talk about a goddamn station takeover. The force was fighting it last time I checked, but I don't think they'll be able to keep them out with all the green they're flashing around. We're still one chief short-"

"We?"

He met her eyes and frowned. "Fucking slip. Old habit. Anyway, the department's been scrambling to replace Monroe, and it's looking like the new one'll be an Ultor plant. Bad news for us, bad news for anyone."

"Any idea who they've got in mind?"

"No, but there's probably a list of candidates floating around. The station's been running blind, so they'll have to choose soon."

"Ugh. Just the thing to start my day off right," she groaned, rubbing her face. "We need that list. Don't think Ultor would just leave that sitting around at the station, right?"

"And make it that easy? Fat fucking chance." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and put one between his lips. The pack went out to her right after.

Her mind went to Johnny - other Johnny - and she found herself shaking her head. "Nah, I'll pass."

Troy's eyebrows went up, but he shrugged and put it away. "Well, I should be able to find out who's in the running either today or tomorrow. Not everyone's happy with the changes going down, so even though I won't be there I'll have a source or two lined up to get us the information we need."

V watched him light the cigarette and tapped her nails on the bedframe. "Good stuff." She flexed her fingers and watched him exhale. "And not-so-good stuff. At least we have something to check into. Maybe I should put Matt on that."

"Matt?"

V flicked her eyes to the side and chewed her lip. "He's the hacker I'm screening. If he's as good as he says he is we should have some info on Dex coming in."

"Right..." Troy said, taking a slow drag.

V felt her nails start to dig into the wooden frame, cursing the way her self-control was fraying right now. Troy wasn't exactly dangling a carrot in front of her face, but big tobacco couldn't have picked a better walking advert.

"Dammit, give me a cig." Troy started to get his pack out again, but V pushed herself off of the bed and stole his instead. "This is your fault, by the way. I used to go days between cigarettes and now I'm your closest competition. If I get lung cancer, keel over and die, I'm cursing you."

He let her have it for a bit, then took it back and put it out on one of the three ashtrays scattered on her dresser. "Is that your way of calling me a shit role model?"

"Maybe. You did take an awful poker player and invite them to weekly games at Tee'N'Ay," she said, one corner of her mouth curved up. "Robbed me blind. You were supposed to be a positive influence on the rookie here. Help guide me down the proper path, and all that formal crap. Now look at me. Half-naked, chain-smoking, a quarter of a way to a headache, and head honcho of _the_ gang to be in. I'm oozing ruin."

He crossed his arms and gave her a crooked grin. "Only two of those could be counted as bad."

"Count again. I've got three."

His eyes definitely scanned her from top to bottom this time. "...Three, eh?"

"You heard me. It's a serious issue that needs fixing." Her voice sounded a hell of a lot more confident than she was feeling, but she meant it.

He nudged her tangled bangs to the side and made sure they were looking right at each other. "Blaming me for that too?"

"Yeah, if you keep on dragging your damn feet."

She was worried she'd have to spell it out to him. Try to sort it through the fucking mess that their relationship had become over the last few days.

It took a moment, but he kissed her just like she wanted him to. She pulled him close, kissing him back just as hard. It should've hurt more than this. She didn't let it.

Pulling him around to the side of the bed, she pushed him down and climbed on top of him. Troy laid his hands on her hips, his hands gentle, too gentle, and she kissed him harder in response. "I'm glad you came back," she breathed, running her tongue over his healing lip, "but I think I would've been glad if Johnny had broken your jaw too. I've got mixed feelings on that."

He sucked in a breath, watching her as she pressed a small kiss to his mouth. "Understandable. Kinda fucked up, but I'll take any small mercies."

"Damn straight. I should've taken a swing at you. Jerk."

"Should've. Glad you didn't." She slid against him, and the change in his expression was one she liked. "Christ, now you're trying to kill me."

She tugged her top off and threw it over the end of the bed, not caring where it landed. His hands tangled in her hair soon after and she wanted to wrap herself up in him. "I'm going out of my way to be easy here. Give you a break. Didn't think that would get you off so fast."

"Not yet, but it's definitely a work in progress." His next kiss was rougher and his hands were warm on her shoulders and breasts. "Fuck. You're not going to give me a chance to see if my jaw's working, are you?"

His tongue brushed against hers and she wanted him between her legs. His hand, his head, anything. "Only if you ask nicely."

"Nicely? Didn't think I went down on you any other way."

"Still got to ask," V gasped, keeping her voice steady. "Nicely."

"You want me to?"

A simple question deserved a simple answer. She smiled instead.

* * *

Matt left a message on her phone later in the day, telling her to meet him by a Do It Up in roughly thirty minutes. Troy stayed back just in case anyone from the station called – a conversation that was definitely done with Johnny well out of earshot - so it was left to her and Johnny to give Matt the final say in his little audition.

He steered her in the direction of his Venom and V pointed him towards another car instead. They needed the space just in case Matt passed, and Johnny shrugged as they piled into the first car they could find with four doors.

"You said this kid wanted to meet you on the other side of town?"

She turned on the radio and flipped it to something full of bass. "Kind of. It's in the apartments, so we'll have plenty of time to quiz him on the way back here."

"Where did you dig him up anyway?"

"Wanted ad on the internet. I thought we were supposed to quiz him, not me?"

He chuckled. "Just asking, because if he's got something worth checking then he's either full of shit or he's working his ass off to impress you."

His smirk told her which side he was leaning towards. "I asked him to find where Dex was hiding. If he finds at least that much, he's worth working with on a mission or two. If he tries to pull any bullshit, I'll send his ass packing. Easy."

"If we aren't already running into a trap," he threw out, leaning back in his seat.

Normally she'd agree with him. A promising hacker with information on the table already? Warning bells would be going off all over the place, and they'd be there with guns and then some.

But that was not the case here. No, she was going off of a recommendation from Johnny Gat. An older alternate timeline Johnny Gat, who was pushing an alternate timeline hacker at her with promises of web-based magic. It sounded nothing short of stupid in her head, and the idea of saying it out loud made her want to drink copiously.

So, she had to improvise. "We could, but I've got my muscle with me. He'll probably take one look at you and run in the other direction."

"And lead us into a car chase? Shit, sounds like a fun time, but aren't we supposed to be getting things done?"

"I am. I'm fumbling at it, but shit's getting done. Whether or not it'll actually amount to anything we'll see in few minutes." V leaned her arm against the door and watched him pass the other cars with ease. By now she would've scraped at least one. "Hey, Johnny?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you challenge me for it?"

"For what?"

"For the right hand. When Julius picked me I thought he'd lost it. You were his go-to guy. Dex did laps around us with strategy, and Troy was practically attached to him. Me? I was still testing myself. You were all established."

"Yeah, sure, but the crazy shit you pulled? Not bad at all."

"That's the thing, though! I never asked why, just where and when. I never questioned him, never looked him in the eye and wondered why half of the things he was asking us to do hurt more than helped. I jumped through hoops for that man, and would've done an extra flip if it made him happy. None of you were like that-"

"You done with that shit?" Gat snapped, shutting the radio off. "Because if you aren't, we're going to have a fucking problem. Are you?"

She shot up in her seat and didn't let her eyes leave him. "Yeah."

"Then I don't see what the deal is. I didn't want it, so I didn't take it. Dex and Troy had their own reasons, but fuck 'em. They didn't take it either. Done and done. Besides, leaders got to deal with all of that management bullshit. Some people are born to deal with it. I just want to know where to point my gun."

"It sure is easier that way, isn't it?"

"If your aim's any good. That's why I'm going to leave all the other shit to you."

V's mouth opened to complain, but he reached a hand over and mashed her hat down on her head. Her hair went everywhere, and she pulled the brim down to hide the blush she was sporting.

Lucky for her that was the end of that conversation. He switched the radio on when they were close to the apartments and she half-listened to the awful techno as they headed down the street leading to the salon.

"No way." Her face split into a grin as she rolled her window down. Matt sat on a nearby bench, his attention on his phone. The blue highlights on his clothes were gone, replaced by a much more familiar purple. "Yo, Blue! Get in!"

He looked up and she waved him over. Hopping up, he grabbed the satchel sitting next to him and climbed into the passenger seat. "I hope this wasn't too far for you."

"If what you've got is good, then nothing's too far."

"Says the woman paying for the tank of gas," Johnny muttered, eying Matt in the rearview mirror.

The hacker had been staring at him, but quickly switched his attention back to V and cleared his throat. "First things first, the address." He handed her a card covered in fancy lettering, with the address scrawled on the back. "Top floor, and quite hard to miss. But this is hardly the most important piece of information."

A folder appeared over her shoulder and she flipped through it as Johnny headed back home. Photos of Dex and a man in a suit stared back at her, and she picked one up to flap at Matt. "Who's the suit?"

"His name is Dane Vogel. When Ultor took an interest in Stilwater they needed someone to depend on, so they sent him over here to head any development plans. I don't have a complete list of the things they plan on implementing, but the gangs have always been a high priority issue. Vogel likely saw Dex as a valuable opportunity to gain insight into the Saints and how they worked."

She showed the photo to Johnny. "Ever see anyone else fit the definition of asshole that well?"

"Yeah," Gat said, glancing over, "he's standing right next to him. I feel like I've seen a guy like that around the church before, but all those business types look the same."

"What should we know about him?"

"He wants to level this place to the ground, push the original inhabitants out, and make it a family-friendly suburban utopia."

"Oh, fuck that," V said, shoving the photo back into the folder. "There's already families here. We don't need some starched shitheel telling us who gets to live where."

Johnny grinned. "Right on, boss. What's the plan?"

"We kick his ass. That's a done deal, but first I think we need to honor a little tradition." She pulled out her phone and dialed Troy. "Hey, do you have a moment? I need you to get some of the crew together..."

"Tradition?" Matt asked, looking confused.

Gat kept his eyes on the road, his smile far from friendly. "Blood in, blood out, kid."


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad."

Matt held the washcloth to his face and gave her quite the thunderous glare. "Bad? They wanted to beat the life out of me."

"That guy was being a bit of an ass, but c'mon, you could've taken him." She handed him a beer and he held it up to his jaw, flinching before pressing it to his skin. "There can only be one, after all."

"...Did you just quote Highlander at me?" he asked, looking at her strangely.

"You bet. It's a damn fine movie, with damn fine music. Also, swords. You can never go wrong with swords."

She grabbed another beer and popped the cap off before taking a seat next to him on the steps of the porch. Outside of the mansion it was calm and cool, and she liked the small moment of peace it offered. People still lounged around, but the backyard of the place was spacious enough to keep anyone from feeling crowded.

In the distance someone had a set of purple sparklers, the lights leaving bright streaks in the air before going dark. The group watching them hollered, and it brought her right back to the canonization earlier, cheers going around the room as Matt ducked through the people in the middle. The poor guy couldn't take a hit, but he did give the group trouble. What good could you do if the person you were aiming for refused to sit still?

"If it makes you feel any better they ambushed me too. Got the speech, went to the church, got the shit kicked out of me, but I didn't want to stop. They were looking at me, sizing me up. Are you worth it? Are you worth taking a risk on? Or are you just as much a waste of time as anyone else? I barely knew these people, but I wanted to be something to them." She took a long drink and drained half of the beer. "Nearly broke my nose in the process. Stupid ego."

The hacker swiped at his mouth, leaving a smudge of purple lipstick along his cheek. "And this happens to every new member?"

"Yep. If you catch the boss's eye and want to take up the cause, you get canonized. Should be old news to you, Miller."

"It should, but it isn't." Matt removed the bottle and checked the label, wrinkling his nose at it. "Such a shame it didn't last."

She polished off her beer and threw it towards the nearest trash can. "What?"

"The canonization." She blinked at him and he placed the beer on the empty space between them. "At some point you stop doing it, so if I appeared surprised, it was genuine."

"Holy hell," she whispered, staring out into the black. That did not make any sense to her. "And no one asked why?"

"I don't believe so, but you might want to ask Johnny more about that. He would know. I can only guess that you decided it wasn't exactly civilized to have your people fight to the death for membership. You don't always need blood on the floor to call it a party. "

"Whoever said we did?" She pretended to pout. "Sometimes it just adds character, Blue."

"Hey, new kid." V glanced over her shoulder to see Troy toss him a small pill bottle. He had a beer in his other hand, which he held out as well. "If I remember my canonization right you'll probably need one or the other by tomorrow."

She peered at the bottle of tylenol while Matt turned the alcohol down. "I'll go with the pills if necessary. A hangover on top of everything else wouldn't help me much."

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug. "Probably a good call, though. Just grab some ice from the coolers if the swelling gets bad."

V put her hands on the porch and leaned back to get a better look at him. "Awfully sweet of you, Troy."

"Hey, I did the same for you. Nothing sweet about keeping recruits from falling over."

She tried pouting at him instead. "Nothing to do with my charm then?"

"Charm?" He quirked his mouth and pointed at her. "You were spitting blood and cursing my grandparents' grandparents. Even said something about kicking my ass once you could feel your legs again."

"And I would've delivered if you hadn't helped me buy a gun. Lucky bastard."

That got her a smile. "Can't help it if you're easy to please, boss. If you need a piece as well, we'll hook you up," he told Matt, shifting back into a slightly more formal tone. "We don't want anyone wandering around without a way to defend themselves, especially now."

Matt nodded. "Of course."

"Seriously, Matt. We don't want you walking around without a gun." V told him, scanning him quickly for any sign of a weapon.

He took in a small breath and withdrew a small silver handgun from the inside of his coat. "I'm not defenseless."

V made a face. "I'm not so sure."

"Just because I don't carry an obnoxious handcannon doesn't mean that I can't keep myself from getting assaulted!"

"As you bravely demonstrated earlier today! You know you're supposed to fight back, right?"

"How dare you-"

Troy glanced between the two as they argued, shaking his head. "I'm not even going to get into this. We'd be up until four, and that's without Johnny's input. Have fun ripping the other a new one, because I'm calling it a night. All this Ultor bullshit isn't going away any time soon, so we might as well sleep while we've got the chance."

"Already? Don't tell me you're starting to show your age," V teased, disappointed that he was running off.

Troy narrowed his eyes, then chuckled. "Well, I had an early start, and you kept me busy all afternoon. What can I say? Maybe I am."

V pursed her lips. _Touché._ "Then you'd better get your beauty sleep. I think I see some wrinkles starting to come in."

"All your doing, boss," he said as he left. "Sweet dreams, and find some time to go the fuck to sleep."

She waited until he was gone to throw a dirty look his way. "Jerk."

That was when she noticed Matt struggling to keep quiet. His hand was over his mouth, and she could've sworn that he was hiding a smirk. "You can ignore me."

"Too late," she said, tapping her fingers on her knee.

"It's just interesting to see you flirt. Or was that more you being flirted with?"

She wanted to dig a large hole and bury him in it. "Can you just stop talking? And maybe forget everything you saw in the last few minutes?"

"I don't see what the problem is. It's not like I didn't know about any of this through previous observations-"

Her eyes turned into slits. "The fuck you say?"

_Previous observations. Previous. Observations._ Matt saw his error around the time she did. He went white as a sheet, and that was a feat considering how pale he already was. "No, not like that." His arms were curled up in front of him, both of his palms open. "I made a grave misstep with my wording."

"Oh, yeah," she said, getting to her feet.

Matt scrambled to get up as well and nearly bumped into a startled Saint. The hacker righted himself immediately, smoothing his coat out. "Sorry about that, I just remembered I've got more information to look into for the Ultor strongholds and..."

He cut and run. As far as openings went, it wasn't half-bad, but V knew he had to drag his ass back here at some point. Maybe then she could get a clearer definition of observations. Hell, maybe that was a question she could throw Johnny's way as well.

The well-dressed woman standing beside her watched him speed off. "That boy can run. Didn't think he'd be that fast."

She did a double-take. Aisha. She really had to get used to the change in clothes. "Can't tell if that's due to survival instinct or cowardice. Might be both."

"Might be, might be," she said with a hand on her hip.

Both women turned to each other and V gave her a tired smile. "How are you holding up?"

"Honestly? It's not what I call ideal, but we're in a tight spot. Ultor wants us to feel trapped, but they're going about it in the strangest way."

"I know what you mean. They're crowding us into our safe spaces, but only the ones they've allowed. It's one of the most condescending things I've dealt with." V grabbed the beer Matt left behind and opened it. "And I'm sorry you had to get dragged into it. We gave you no warning, and didn't let you take anything with you-"

She held up a hand. "Don't even start. I made my peace with most of this the moment I first stepped out onto the Row. Things didn't seem so bad then, but we've always had gangs fighting each other, and killing each other. It took me a long time to decide whose flags I wanted to carry, but once I did I knew I made the right choice. Even now I have no regrets, and no matter how fucked up this area gets, it'll still be home. Our home. I can't see myself anywhere else."

"Not everyone's made of tough stuff like you, Eesh." The nickname slipped out, and V wanted to smack herself for it. "Shit, sorry. Aisha."

"Relax. Johnny's said it enough, I'm surprised you haven't said it sooner," Aisha assured her, looking more amused than anything else. "Though what should I call you now? V, or boss?"

V groaned. "Oh, please don't. It's hard enough getting used to hearing it from the crew, I'd hate to hear it from you too."

"Deep down I'm still a Saint, remember? But it it helps, we'll stick to what we know then. Easy for you, easy for me."

"Sounds like a plan." She took a sip of her beer, swallowing it in spite of how tepid it was. "This boss is still feeling some growing pains, so...thanks."

"Don't mention it," the singer said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "We're all adjusting, so you'll never be alone there." She gave it a small squeeze, then made her way up the steps back towards the mansion. "Now, I'm going to hunt Johnny down. If you aren't going to stop him from taking out every piece of china in this house, then I sure as hell will."

"Good luck with that," V called, hoping at the same time that he hadn't managed to blow a hole in the ceiling. "And if you ever need anything, let me know!"

She plopped back down onto the steps, taking another swig of her lukewarm drink. There was no need to finish it, but she wasn't drunk enough to throw it, or sober enough to empty it out in the grass. So, she settled on drinking it, tilting it back to chug as much as possible in one go.

The bottle was two-thirds gone when her phone rang, and the rest was spat out onto the pavement. She coughed, grateful that she didn't choke, and didn't bother to hide her irritation when she spoke into the receiver. "This better be good."

" _It is."_

She hadn't bothered to look at the name on the screen, but now she wished she had. "...Dex. Dex, you son-of-a-bitch."

" _I missed you too, V. How's the party going? You aren't bored already, are you?"_

Was he watching her? The dark surrounding the area grew blacker, making her world suddenly seem small, too small. "Bored? Never. Not with your new pals hanging around. I do wish a few of them were nearby, though. Haven't put enough boot to ass this evening, and I'd hate to waste such great weather."

" _After what you did this morning, I think you've done enough."_

_This morning?_ She raised an eyebrow, but didn't let any of her confusion sink into her voice. "It's never enough,. You know how it is."

" _Do I? I think that's where you're wrong, but maybe we just need more time to figure things out, explain ourselves a bit. Somewhere where we could talk without being interrupted."_

Her grip tightened on the phone. "What?"

" _I want to meet. I think you want to as well."_

"Oh?"

" _Yeah, because what I've got to say is important. You'll want to hear it."_

"And if I refuse?"

" _I might have to get in touch with a few other people then. Like Johnny, for example. You haven't told him yet, have you?"_ She was ready to bite a hole through her lip, and Dex chuckled on the other end. _"No, of course you haven't. It's Troy, after all. What would Johnny ever have to worry about when it came to him?"_

"...Where?" she asked, her mouth dry.

" _There's an old place not too far from here, an abandoned office building. Meet me there tonight, and we can pick up where we left off. Just like old times."_

"Sure thing, Dex," she replied, checking her boot for the knife stashed there. "Just like old times."


	12. Chapter 12

She pulled her hood up as she walked into the empty building. Her hands were in her pockets, but she was acutely aware of the handgun she never left behind, and the knives she kept for more desperate situations.

Was this one of them? It was certainly starting to look that way, but she didn't let it rattle her. It would only become another advantage that Dex would try to use against her.

And her blood was still boiling from the first.

She glanced around the dirty reception area, noticing the empty food containers and ratty blankets. With no one around to keep people out, this place must've housed many loners and vagrants. The same people that Vogel would gladly throw out on his quest to 'clean up the area'. None of them were around right now, and that was one thing that was starting to make her hair stand on end.

There should have been a noise or two. The city was never truly quiet, but here? A needle could drop and it'd ring out like a gong.

V walked out towards the desks, glancing up through a wide hole in the ceiling. "Hey, man, if you wanted to talk, I could've set up some primo spots over at FB's!"

Her voice carried as far as it could, and no one answered.

Putting her hand on her gun, she approached the stairs at the back of the room and headed up. The door had been broken off of its hinges long ago, and the blinking exit sign above her head cast everything in a faint red glow. It was both eerie and off-putting, and she pulled out her weapon as she came around the corner.

She called out again, hoping to get a response. "Dex? Don't tell me you've chickened out."

Something crackled towards the ceiling, but it didn't come from just one spot. She could hear it at her back, and off to her sides. _"I'm just building the tension a bit. Keeping you guessing."_

 _Speakers. Sounds like they're everywhere too._ "But that's not what this little trip was about, Dex. I'm here to talk business, not humor you."

" _Business? Does that mean that you're taking things seriously for once?"_

Her teeth ground together hard, and she pried them apart. "Oh, yeah. You've got my attention. All one-hundred and fifty percent of it. There are better ways of trying to catch my eye, though. Or were you aiming for Julius?"

" _Very fucking funny,"_ he said, his calm rapidly failing. _"Do you know how long the Saints would've lasted? It's the nature of every damn gang that's ever risen up over the years. They fight, they enter their golden age, and they fall. It's the history of every empire that's ever risen to power, and our story would've been the fucking same."_

"I took a semester of history, Dex. Oh, and watched my fair share of the History Channel. Want to try again?" She went down the hallway and looked in one of the rooms on the side. All that was there was dust and debris.

" _Okay, let's talk about something more on your level. Something a bit more personal. The man – or woman – with the biggest fucking gun is the one who runs the show, rules the town, etc. Now, you've got a big gun, some moderate sway, but you've also got one of the most dangerous motherfuckers at your beck and call. He's an attack dog ready to maul on command. The other's a fucking liar."_

"Dex-"

" _I'm not finished. So, what do you have to form your stable empire? A murderer without a conscience, and a traitor who's anchored to his. You've got a broken link, V. Johnny won't hesitate to sever it."_

Her gun wavered. She steadied it and continued down the hall. "Why are you doing this?"

" _I'm tired. Tired of all the shit, day in, day out."_

She searched another room and found it empty. "Too much bullshit?"

" _From Julius and everyone else. For all the lies he kept on telling us, I think he was lying most to himself."_ The speakers squeaked and she heard him fumble with the mike. _"And after a while you start to question everything."_

"But is Ultor the answer?"

" _It might be. That's something I hope to find out."_ Something snapped. It echoed from down the hall, and she swept her eyes towards the sound, her breath catching in her throat. _"Got to tie up a few loose ends before that, though. No hard feelings?"_

She dove into the nearby room just as gunfire broke out. Holding her hands over her head, she forced herself to breathe as she pressed herself down as close to the floor as possible. Everything rattled as the walls were punctured and she dug her nails into her hat.

It had to stop. At some point they had to reload.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced them back open when silence fell. Her gun was over a foot in front of her, and she slid herself forward to grab it. It touched her hand when a figure in black darkened the doorway. Her arm swung wild, causing one of her bullets to hit the doorframe, but the second hit the soldier's shoulder as they raised their rifle. The third hit them in the head.

V scrambled for them as they collapsed, and grabbed their rifle. She hefted it and fired at the two others waiting down the hall, the gun kicking up briefly before being righted. When it ran out of ammo, she dropped the gun and used her pistol again, yelling at the top of her lungs, "You fucking coward!'"

Dex didn't have anything to say to that.

Moving forward, she hit the faceplate of a figure that popped out of the room to her left, then pistolwhipped him when he refused to fall. There were too many rooms, too many hallways. She flew down one, then another, and nearly threw herself into a squad waiting for her.

Crouching down low, she tried to crawl around the corner and leapt into the room across the way. Rolling to soften the impact, she hit a random pile of junk and scrambled to get up. That was when something yanked her up by her hoodie, jerking her onto her feet. She grabbed for her knife.

Johnny blocked it inches away from his right kidney. Other-Johnny.

It clattered to the ground. "You're a beautiful fucking thing to see right now," she gasped, her emotions a mess.

He, on the other hand, was stone-faced. "Are you hit?"

"No." She shook her head, almost dazed. "No, I'm fine."

"Good. Stay down and follow me."

Picking the gun by his side back up, he reloaded it and stepped out into the hall without a thought. With the amount of casings raining on the ground, he didn't need to think, just respond.

She put her knife back and raised her gun as she stayed as close to him as possible. Nothing held up a resistance, not any more, and they made their way back to the stairs in record time. He motioned for her to head down first, tossing a grenade down the hall behind them.

Her body hit the wall, and he steadied her as she raised her gun to catch the Ultor soldier waiting for them. Her bullets hit his body armor, and Johnny's knife hit his forehead. One was much more effective than the other.

She started running, one of Gat's hands grazing her back, and she didn't stop until the exit came into view. They passed through and nothing was there to block them.

He pushed her towards a random car and hopped behind the wheel. The tires squealed as he peeled out, and she sank down low in the passenger seat. Her knuckles were white as they clutched her gun and she took in a shaky breath. "That sucked. That sucked so bad, that I'm having trouble believing what just happened."

Johnny stayed silent, but the way he was pulling his turns told her he was less than calm. By the time they dodged their third accident, she decided that he was furious.

They skidded around a slow Bootlegger, and V steadied her hand against the door. "Jesus, Johnny! Slow the fuck down!"

He jerked the wheel to the side, sending them flying into a mostly deserted parking lot. The people that were walking around jumped out of his way, and her seatbelt was the only thing keeping her face from hitting the dashboard.

"The fuck was that?" he forced out, angling his head towards her.

"That was a fucking shootout. That's what it was," she stated, feeling flippant.

"You actually believed him? That you'd sit down and shoot the fucking breeze? With _Dex_? Did you even think before walking in there?"

"Thought about all sorts of things, but-"

"You're a fucking moron."

That set her teeth on edge. "You know exactly why I went in there."

"And you knew what was going to happen. Doesn't make a motherfucking difference, V!"

"Well, fuck you! I did what I thought worked, and you know what? I'm going to screw up! I'm going to do stupid shit and get myself hurt, but that's on me. Me! I don't need you to swoop in and make me your responsibility! The only one who's responsible for me is myself." She balled her hands into fists, clenching them tightly. "And if I choose to take on someone else's shit, I can, but it's all on me. No one else needs to pay for it."

Minutes went by as she breathed in and out, her eyes sliding closed. She waited for Johnny to start back in again and go for the jugular. He didn't. Instead, she felt the car start moving again, and she looked up to see them pulling back onto the road.

"Where are we going? Freckle Bitch's?"

He snorted. "No, Brown Baggers. I'm too pissed off to enjoy the fact that we just mowed down a wave of Ultor fucks, so I'm going to drink until I can."

"I owe you a bottle, after all. Just don't hand it to me or I'll drown in it." She pressed her hand to her eyes and tried to will away the tremors setting in. "...It's not because I'm sleeping with him. Why I did that, that is."

He turned the car and flipped on the radio. "I know."

* * *

It took a quarter of the bottle of rum for her nerves to finally unwind. Johnny had a six pack of whatever beer had been in reach of the register, and had gone through two of them. The third sat next to him, nearly empty. V handed him the rum and he took a long drink of that as well. Typically he was indifferent to the stuff, but she guessed he'd built up a tolerance over the years.

They sat together on the hood of their crappy Go! overlooking the edge of Stilwater. The lights still blinded anyone looking right at them, but it didn't seem stifling anymore, and out here she didn't have to think about vans, Dex, or cramped halls.

"God, that's some air." The amount of plaster she had to have inhaled made her breathe in deeper. "I'll never take nature for granted ever again."

Johnny's posture relaxed as he stared out at the city, admiring it. "It is something, isn't it?"

"The armpit of America? It has its redeeming qualities, " she said, folding her legs up under her.

"Eh, you won't know bad until five years from now. Then again, maybe you never will."

He handed the rum back and she swallowed what she guessed was a shot. A good buzz had settled in, but she was only getting warmed up. "What happens in five years? Or would've happened in five years?"

"You still want to know?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "Hell yeah."

He drank the rest of the beer and dropped the empty bottle onto the ground. "Fuck it. If anything's violated I'll get Kinzie to mess around with it later. Might as well start with the easy stuff."

"Like the explosion."

"Like the explosion," he echoed. "You're caught in it and put out for five years. In that time a lot of shit goes down. Ultor moves in, the Saints fall apart, and three new sets of motherfuckers try to throw their weight around. Probably would've taken them longer, but Ultor forced a lot of the original Saints out."

"You didn't take over?"

He shook his head. "Nah, didn't want it."

"And everyone else was gone?"

"Yeah. You know what happened to Dex, but Troy didn't stick around. Didn't have any reason to, I guess."

She stared down at the bottle in her hands, now sloshing at half-level. "Guess not. What about you?"

"I tried to blow Troy's fucking head off, and got my ass tossed in jail. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing."

She noted that that was still a possibility, and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Did they actually convict you?"

"The judge rattled off some arbitrary murder count to get the jury mad. Upper three-hundreds." Her jaw dropped and Gat raised an eyebrow. "What? It was high, but she refused to follow her own bullshit legal guidelines. Anyway, you broke me out before they could light me up, and that's when we started rebuilding. Got highrises, billboards, and merchandise. Grade-A silly shit."

"We were famous?"

"We robbed a bank as part of a movie promo. Fucking crazy shit." He tilted his head to the side. "Your commercials were pretty tight as long as you didn't have any speaking parts, though. Leather and Lace, man. Leather and Lace."

She pretended to slug him in the arm. "Don't future-past perv on me, Gat."

"Can't a guy admire his boss?" he asked, grinning wolfishly.

The idea made her giddy. Fucking rum. V pushed the bottle back his way. "Just as long as it's equal opportunity."

He turned away and she was left studying his profile. "Free country, boss. You exercise your right every damn day."

She giggled. Goddamned giggled. "What are we anyway, Johnny? In your time?" She paused to let him speak, but then her mouth kept on running. "Best friends? Really, really competent coworkers? Lovers?"

He kept on looking ahead, his shades angled towards the sky. The silly grin she'd worn faded as the seconds ticked by, and by the time he looked back at her she was stunned into silence.

"I think that's the cue for you to wind down. You're shitfaced."

"That wasn't supposed to get an answer."

He gave her a slow smile. "It didn't. I think you're letting your mind wander."

It was. Right down the path that she had no business taking. But taking was different than wondering, and her mind had no trouble wondering how it would feel to have him press her against the hood of the car, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

"Fuck. Now it's stuck there." She pulled her hat down and held out her hand. "Give me the damn bottle." She threw it back and didn't care how much was going down her throat.

Johnny stole it away from her when she began coughing and laughed. "That bad?"

"No," she rasped. "It's just weird. Considering...everything, you know?"

He turned back to the city. "Yeah."

"Things are pretty crazy in your time, eh?" She licked her lips and played with the laces on her boots. "Our time. I know I must be."

"Nah, but you do get perky whenever someone brings up 'murder time, fun time'."

"Perky?"

"Perky. I call it like it is," he said, smiling at her again.

His warm tone was making her stomach flip. "She's not me."

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Fucking A, V. You're her and she's you."

"No, she's what I become. I'm what she used to be. Or what I currently am. Geez, this is getting confusing as hell."

She tried to grab the rum again, but he held it just out of her reach. "Seriously, you've had enough. I don't want you to throw up all over me when I carry your drunk ass back."

V leaned back on her arms and frowned. "Asshole."

"Lightweight. Pouting at me isn't going to do shit, either." He placed the mostly empty bottle on the opposite side of him, just out of sight. "I've got years of practice."

"Years?"

"Yeah, years."

She felt her lips curve up, and he returned the gesture.


	13. Chapter 13

Meeting at a diner to conduct business was just feeding into the cliché, but as far as neutral spots went, this was one of the best. It was old, but not falling apart, and not so removed from the population that anyone would pin it for a place that housed deals from either side. Only a few people were sitting inside, likely the early risers, but that made things easier. Fewer people, fewer eavesdroppers, and there was no real need to go through all the motions of a normal meet up.

That worked best for him, because he planned on this being quick. Troy took a seat in one of the worn booths, and put his arms on the table. "Hey, Rose. How's it going?"

The older woman took a drink of her coffee and scowled. "Pretty fan-fucking-tastic, but that could just be me. I love having my job be dictated by a variety of dicks each worse than the last." She pushed a folder across the table. "They're still going over this, but I think after you get a look at it you'll see why."

Making sure his cap was still down, he flipped up the corner of the folder to see what was inside. Sure enough, the documents showed who Ultor was aiming for and he thumbed through a few before shutting it.

Rosemary laughed. "Wonderful, eh?"

"Fucking peachy." He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Getting any of those guys in an office to do actual work's going to be a mess, so you might as well kiss the conviction rate good bye."

"Don't remind me. Press conferences are going to be hell on Earth, but how much do you need to know to read the speech the company wrote for you?"

"Jack and shit."

The waitress appeared at their side and he ordered a coffee. She left once his cup was full and only then did he try to open the folder again. Taking a drag off of his cigarette, he shook his head. "Fucking Johnson. Guess all those years of sucking up to anyone who'd listen paid off. Hell, all of these guys were kissing Monroe's ass when he was still alive. Probably why they were picked."

"They were definitely going for a type. You were top of the list for a while, by the way."

His head snapped up. "What?"

"They want someone with gang experience."

"Gang experience? Half the damn city would be qualified. I'd submit my old neighbor's credentials, but I think they're going more for sycophants than pushers."

"No need to get pissy, but I wouldn't put it past them to try to contact you at some point. You're their Trojan Horse after all," she said, giving him a thin smile.

_Was._ Troy drank more of the mediocre coffee and focused on getting it down.

Rosemary held her cup in front of her, but didn't drink. "Still sticking by the kid?"

"She's not a kid, Rose. Stopped being one a long time ago."

"So you say, but she's still too young and reckless to pull off what you're trying to pull off. Things are going to get bad. You and I both know it."

"Things were bad before. Don't know if anything's improved much, but I've got a handle on it."

"Sure you do," she said. "But if she goes running towards a cliff, think long and hard before you go leaping in after her, eh? You're your own safety net."

His mouth twisted. "Noted." Pushing his empty cup aside, he grabbed the folder and got up. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Rosemary said as he walked out, going back to her coffee.

* * *

While Johnny hadn't given her the bottle she'd bought back, she had weaseled a beer out of him, forgetting exactly what order it was that sent most people sprinting towards the toilet. Lucky for both of them, it hadn't made her sick, but after curling up on the hood to take a quick nap, she woke up in her room with the most annoying hangover she'd had in months. That fact added to her disorientation, but wore off after a few minutes of blinking at the ceiling and her blaring alarm clock.

After punching her clock, she got out of bed and fought gravity to throw some painkillers at her growing headache. The damn time-release tablets always took forever to kick in, but that didn't matter right now. She just wanted something to dull the edge of the day long enough for her to deal with it.

Slapping on a pair of large dark sunglasses, V wandered out of her room to grab a caffeine-based chaser and was almost immediately caught by Matt. "What the-"

"No time for pleasantries, boss," he said, guiding her towards the library.

The room had been converted into a small planning area, and once she went inside she could see that plans were definitely going down. Dex's old corkboard had been dragged into the center of the room, and Johnny and Troy were both gesturing towards the photographs stuck to it. They looked over as she was pushed through the doorway, and she mock saluted them, nearly slapping herself in the forehead with her hand.

At least she was wearing clothes this time. Trying not to stumble over her feet, she pulled over a chair and sank as low into it as she could possibly go. "Yo." Her hat went over her face seconds after.

"Looks like someone decided to celebrate early," Johnny said, yanking her hat away. She lifted an arm up, but let it flop down to her side with her middle finger raised. "Seriously? That's all you can manage?"

"That's all I care to manage right now," she said, yawning. "But fine, I'll wake myself up. It looks like I missed some serious stuff."

Troy gestured towards the board. "Just started. We figured we'd wait for you, but there's only twenty four hours in a day. Got to get moving at some point."

She sat up and flipped him the bird as well. "I needed my beauty sleep. So, what did you find?"

Matt moved over to the board and pointed at an older photo. "Well, aside from the stores that you had originally pinpointed as Ultor locations, there's a factory that they're setting up for more sophisticated equipment."

V squinted through the lenses and leaned forward. "Is that a picture of the old Carnales plant?"

"Yes, actually. Ultor has been clearing out the dirt and debris to start their own weapons production in Stilwater. While you did do quite a bit of damage to the original plant, it doesn't appear to be slowing them down."

"I've had a few guys check it out to see how much progress they've been making, and the amount of manpower they're throwing at it is insane," Troy added. "If we don't take that out now it could lead to some serious problems."

"I'll add it to the to-do list. Any others?"

Gat pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. "Around Nob Hill. There's nothing yet, but a lot of people are seeing suits and vans moving around. Could become something if we don't clear the fuckers out."

V put her hands behind her head and eyed her hat as Johnny spun it around his finger. "Tricky dicks. My guess is that both of those are high-priority?"

Matt nodded. "The factory's more of an immediate threat, but both should be dealt with quickly."

"Cool. What if I want to add another target to the list?" V asked, grabbing at her hat.

"Come again?"

It took three tries, but she swiped it back. "I want Dex's place."

Matt took a moment to register exactly what she said, his expression unsure. "Is that even wise?"

"I'd also settle for blowing it up. Think that gets a message across?"

"Yeah, but not the one you're looking for, boss," Troy said. "I know you want to get back at him for all sorts of shit – we all do – but Ultor's the bigger problem."

"Ultor has Dex, and he's already ahead of us," she replied, growing impatient. "He's going to pick us apart from the inside out from a goddamn distance. I want to close it."

Johnny shrugged. "I'm down with that."

Troy rolled his eyes. "She just said that she wants to blow up a small skyscraper. Of course you are. Look, I'm just saying that Ultor could be throwing him out there on purpose. He's a distraction, and nothing else is going to make us drop what we're doing to go after him."

"Sure, and I might enjoy being petty a little too much, but he knows us. _Knows us._ Dex could probably recite half the stupid shit I used to ramble when drunk off the top of his head, and that's the unimportant stuff. He knows what to say in order to throw us off, and I don't want that hanging over us."

"And what do you want to do? Talk to him?"

"No. Tried that last night and it didn't get me anywhere. He shot up our meeting place, and I could've stocked a Friendly Fire with the amount of bullets he was wasting." She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and looked each of them in the eye. " Don't any of you get furious at me about it either, because it needed to be done. I know now that we can't deal with him one on one, and I don't want any of you trying to play negotiator on the side. He's not interested in deals. He's already made the one that counts. So, with that said and done, how much more emphasis do I need to put on the fact that a problem like him needs to be solved?"

Troy stared at her for a minute, his jaw clenched. "Not much."

"And we don't have to level the damn building, but I want to take it. After losing our apartments, it's only fair, and it'll take away another place for him to hide. Shouldn't be too difficult if we send in some of our heavier hitters first and then take care of the rest." Sliding her sunglasses back down, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "Then we pick off strongholds one by one until we have the two of them on the fence. Simple and straightforward. Any objections?"

Matt thought about it, his eyes moving back and forth as he went over the details. Troy wasn't as obvious, but he did focus more on the smoke he was exhaling than her.

She looked over at Johnny and he raised an eyebrow. "What? None here. Sounds like I get to shoot motherfuckers at either place, and if Dex's there that's a bonus."

"It should work if we have a short recovery period," Matt offered, his mind still on the information he was processing. "Get the penthouse and then go for the factory. However, they would only be surprised for a short time, so we would have to move quickly. …Or we could handle things another way. Groups of two."

Troy crossed his arms and leaned back against the board. "You want us to separate? Splitting us up's risky."

"Yes," Matt admitted, "but it could lead to the best outcome. We do have enough resources to split them evenly."

"Eh, even if we didn't we'd make it work," V said, feeling confident. "We're the Saints. No one fucks with us, and after today maybe Ultor will finally start to understand that." She pointed at Johnny, then Matt. "You two get the factory done. Wrap it up nice, but please don't smash it into oblivion. It was bad enough that we blew it the first time. Maybe this time we can actually get some use out of it."

Johnny frowned. "You're going to cut me out of the raid? After you mentioned Dex trying to gun you down? Is that a fucking joke?"

Something in that stung and she gave him a look. "No, Johnny-"

"He's got a point."

V tapped her fingers on the armrests of her chair and wondered just when her lieutenants had decided now was the time to mutiny. "What point, Troy?"

"You need the best back up we can offer, and Johnny's got you covered," Troy said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Get to the penthouse, clear it, and call it ours. You want the factories taken care of? Miller and I should be able to get that done without torching it to the ground. Scout's honor."

She pursed her lips and judged from Troy's stance that he'd refuse to budge on this matter. Johnny was just as immovable and twice as vocal.

It would be her luck to find a group of people just as fucking stubborn as she was. "Fine. Just don't let Matt get too close to any of it. I think he's about sixty percent hair spray anyway."

"But I don't use hair spray..."

"Hair gel then. Same difference," she said, pressing her fingers to her temples.

* * *

Troy was loading his handgun when she found him later. She watched him load the bullets one by one as she wandered up to him, and gently kicked the side of his chair to get his attention.

"Hey, boss," he said, without looking up. A few other Saints did however, and she pointed towards the other room. They got up one by one, and Troy chuckled when the last one scrambled out. "You want to talk?"

She plopped down in the empty seat next to him. "Don't you?"

He sighed and put the gun down on the table beside him. "You noticed that even with the hangover?"

"Yep."

Tapping his cigarette against the ashtray, he sat back and turned to her. "Great."

"Yeeeep. So..."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about Dex. Probably should've just spit this out at the start, but there never seemed to be a good opening for it. Not that there would be. These things never have one." She watched him as he sorted through the words, weighing them carefully. "He knew. Didn't spend any time building up to it, just said that he knew exactly what I was and who I worked for. Talk about fucking surreal. ...But you knew that, didn't you?"

V nodded. "When he called me he threw that fact out there, but I don't think I gave him the reaction he wanted. Kinda surprised he didn't call me on it, but I think he had other things in mind at the time. When did you find out?"

"After we forced the Vice Kings out. He had me pegged, but he didn't say a goddamn word about it," Troy said, holding his cigarette between his fingers. "I thought he was waiting to swoop in at the last minute to save Julius and crucify me, but he didn't. Guess he figured he could pass the buck to you and wait on the sidelines to see what would happen."

"Don't think he got what he wanted there either."

"Nope, don't think so," he said, giving her a wry look.

"That does explain a lot, though. God, there were times when I wanted to choke the life out of him when we were dealing with Monroe. Probably would've saved us a lot of pain if I'd snapped and maimed him, but it's generally bad form to kill the people who are supposed to be your friends. Missed opportunities suck."

Troy cracked a smile, but wiped it off of his face shortly after. Without it he seemed worn around the edges again, and she had trouble explaining the expression he was aiming at her. "V."

"Yeah?"

"About Monroe-"

"Actually, I've got something I've been meaning to ask you." The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Is Troy even your real name?"

He froze. She might not have caught all of it, but hurt was difficult to miss. "...Yeah. It is."

"You got a last name, Troy?"

His cigarette went to his mouth, and he concentrated on smoking it down to a stub. "Bradshaw."

She reached over and touched his forearm, tracing the lines of his tattoo. "V's actually the first letter of my last name."

Troy watched her hand as it moved and flicked his eyes back to her face. "So, Victoria really was off the mark?"

"So far off you're heading to Mars, babe. And Valerie?" She wrinkled her nose. "Nope, not even close."

He put his cigarette out and caught her hand when it grazed his wrist. "I've got a cousin named Val. I was running out of names and had to try something that didn't sound like a blitzed Russian came up with it."

"Well, she was meant to be a Valerie. Me, not so much." She twined her fingers with his and squeezed gently. "H is a weird letter to work with anyway. Awful for nicknames."

He squeezed her hand back. "I'm sorry."

"I know." V let go, but let her hand rest on top of his arm for a few seconds longer. "If you still want to talk about Monroe later, we will. I'll give you all the time in the world. Right now, we've got Dex to deal with though, and I need you ready for anything. You with me?"

"You know it," he said without any hesitation.

"Good, because without Johnny you're both going to have to throw your weight around a bit more, and Matt's a bit weedy."

"Sure thing," he replied. "Just promise me one thing, okay?"

"What?"

"That you'll watch your back. You're not fucking indestructible. You're about as damn close as it gets, but don't test it. I saw Hughes' body, visited it in the fucking morgue. I never want to see yours there."

Her face fell. "...Troy."

He pushed himself out of his chair and left before she could say another word.


	14. Chapter 14

_"What's happening?"_

Matt had his PDA hooked up to his laptop, and juggled the wires connecting the two while also keeping his phone glued to his ear. "We're going ahead with the plan to deal with the factory, but our lovely boss has decided to deviate from that."

Johnny laughed. _"Course she did. Not everything's going to be a straight shot with her."_

"She wants to personally take Dex's apartment as some sort of an elaborate 'fuck you'. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but to make this work we're going to have to divide our efforts."

" _So, she's hitting the apartment. Who's going with her?"_

"You actually." Matt tapped the PDA and pulled up some of the plans for the factory's redesign. "Troy insisted."

He was silent for a couple of seconds, and Matt listened to make sure that call hadn't been dropped. _"Huh. Guess I'm going to have to change my plans a bit."_

"What do you mean by that?"

" _This thing can handle being in two places at once, right?"_

Matt side-eyed his phone. "Theoretically."

_"Then I've got an idea. It's a good thing you work with this shit for a living."_

"We haven't even had the time to test-" He hung up and Matt gave a weary sigh before going back to his PDA. "I never should've shown him the reset feature."

* * *

Two heavy duffel bags hit the ground by her feet, and the dull thud that followed meant that they were packed to the brim. The real prize, however, was the RPG in Johnny's hands. He hefted it and V whistled in admiration. "Looking good, there."

"Murdering's one thing. Revenge? Now that's a special occasion," he said, checking it before putting it down.

"This is pretty special, isn't it? Good thing I had a few boys go and get my ride fixed."

"Your ride? You mean you found something that could hold it together long enough to get to the shop? Thing deserves a fucking medal."

Picking up their bags, the two walked towards the garage, and the moment it came into view V turned and gestured towards her car proudly.

Johnny took one look at the silver Emu and shook his head. "I don't think so."

The irony of him saying that after receiving it as a gift from him almost made her laugh. "Tough shit, man. I'm driving and that's what we're charging in with."

"Not happening."

V stabbed a finger towards it. "That's my chariot." She then stabbed a finger towards him. "You're the asshole that counts as my champion. So if you're done throwing a hissy fit, stop bitching and get in the damn car."

"That does not tell anyone that you're about to fuck their shit up. Don't we have a bulldozer, or a fucking tank stashed somewhere?"

"No, because you know what happened to them?"

"What?"

"You. That little joyride you took not too long ago left us a bit short."

Gat waved her off. "And you're complaining? You still want Hughes' ugly-ass mug staring at you from every point of the city? I did you a fucking favor."

"No, Johnny. I was talking about Stefan's."

That made him pause. "Oh. Well, you don't owe me anything for that one."

"Holy hell." She put a hand on her forehead. "We really need to start keeping an inventory or spreadsheets on this shit. Anyway, take it or leave it, unless you have any other helpful suggestions aside from the obvious." she said, zipping up her leather jacket.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, he turned her towards the pool. A large dark helicopter sat on the grass nearby and she did not remember parking that there, drunk or sober. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Special delivery this morning. Had a few guys pick it up when the cops weren't looking."

"...I'm going to have to fly that, aren't I?" she asked, blinking at it.

"Oh, yeah." He lowered his head to her ear. "By the way, if you crash that thing with me in it I'm going to find a way to kick your ass in the afterlife, V."

His hands were heavy on her shoulders and she let out a nervous laugh. "Your faith in me is so reassuring."

It turned out to be a valid point. Her depth perception almost led to a collision with the highway, and she swung a little too far left when she tried to dodge a building on their right.

"Motherfucker!" she swore as the side of the chopper sailed by. Sweat had started to bead on her forehead, and she knew that her flying was not going to get a passing grade.

"Fuck it, we're not making it back to the ground at this point," Johnny said, his teeth bared. "I'll kick your ass now!"

"I'd like to see you fucking try it! Would you even know what to do with this?"

"What? Jiggle a joystick?"

"It's not a goddamn joystick!"

"Then what the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"Flying, you ass!"

Still, as much as it seemed like he was going to toss her out of the way, he remained in his seat. Even when another close call had them yelling at each other for a minute straight.

When she had reached a height that was manageable, her phone rang. "Hey, think you can grab that without strangling me? Right jean pocket."

Gat sneered and pulled her phone out. "The fuck do you want?" He listened for a bit, then looked over at her. "Yo, it's the rave kid. He says he's taken care of some of the security, but that Dex's crew are expecting a police chopper soon because of the Saints on the bottom."

"Lucky for us, that's what we have," she said, angling them towards one of the more imposing buildings.

At the top the helipad awaited. She swallowed down her growing anxiety and went right for it, easing them down.

Johnny pulled out his gun and held it tightly until he felt the helicopter touch solid ground. A few scattered men started to approach, but he snapped his gun up to pick them off. V wrenched her belt off and grabbed for the bag as Gat dove out of his seat. With the way he moved, you would never know how jacked up his knee was.

She fell back when bullets tore through the cushion and tumbled, her shoulder hitting the platform. It stung enough to make her clench her teeth, but she had to recover fast. Pushing herself back up, she reached for the bags and pulled out an SMG while using the helicopter as cover.

A few more shots went off on the other side, and as she poked her head around Johnny made his way back to her with a grin on his face. "Three to zero."

She grabbed one of the bags and slung it over her shoulder. "Bite me. I was getting our gear."

"Oh, that's what you were doing? I could've sworn you were getting up close and personal with the floor."

"I hate you."

Removing a rifle from the other bag, he took it as they made their way down towards the apartment and kicked open the door to the stairs. Her phone went off again, and she shielded her ear as Gat let loose on the soldiers waiting ahead. "What?"

_"Yo, boss. Stay on that floor, the others aren't worth your time."_

She let her eyes settle on Johnny's back and nodded. "No need for overkill?"

_"No such thing as overkill, but we don't want me seeing double, right? Might make him jealous."_

V laughed and Johnny swung his head back to give her a curious look. In return, she pointed over at an Ultor soldier who was struggling to get back up, and Gat immediately went back to work. "That would be the day. Keep an eye on the crew, okay? Oh, and try not to blow out the supports. I'd hate to survive a helicopter ride only to have to learn how to surf down a collapsing building."

_"You got it."_

She hung up and joined Johnny by the door at the bottom. Aiming her SMG, she gave him the signal to open it. The guys on the other side didn't even see it coming. It didn't even take the full clip to take them out either.

Johnny noticed and gave her an appraising look. "Well, well. Not too bad, boss."

"Eyes ahead, Gat," she said, smiling in spite of herself.

The empty apartment greeted them, and V checked every inch of the room while keeping her finger close to the trigger. Walking ahead, Johnny stayed by the wall, tensed for any sign of movement.

Instead it was silent.

V felt a familiar tension grab her, and she sucked in a breath. "Johnny?" He glanced back at her. "I'm not feeling this."

He let go of the bag and walked right into the open, waving his gun around. "Dex? What's with the silent treatment? I thought we could throw you a little housewarming party." Silence. "You're a shit host, man."

_What the fuck are you doing?_ Dropping her own bag, V made sure to stay on him as he made his way from room to room.

It was structured like a model home would be, with everything strategically placed and no sign of anyone ever touching it. Not even the bedroom showed signs of life, and Gat kicked the bed before shooting through the mattress. He placed his ear against it and shook his head. "Nothing."

She dug out her phone and stomped on any urge to call Johnny. _Other-Johnny._ Instead she tried to call Matt. The only thing on the other end coming through was a busy signal, and she quickly hung up. She was in the process of dialing Troy's number when her phone began to ring. "Hello?"

_"You're a hell of a lot more passive-aggressive than I remember. This makes me think we're fighting over toys at the playground instead of actual resources."_

"Fucking hell!" she swore, kicking at a nearby chair. "This is getting downright ancient."

_"I know. How's Johnny, by the way?"_

She wandered out of the room and stared at the window. "What do you think? He's got at least three clips with your name on it. Hell, I've got two."

_"Still worked up over yesterday? I think you need to take a moment to sit down, relax, and take in the view."_

"Get fucked," she shot, hanging up.

Johnny walked up beside her, his rifle on his shoulder. "Dex?"

"Yeah. Guess who's absent again?"

He leaned back against the glass of the window and scowled. "Shit. He's more of a slippery motherfucker than I remember."

"Tell me about it. I'm getting on Matt's ass the minute we're back at...huh?"

The noise came first. Gat stepped back and the two watched as a helicopter floated down into view. Exchanging a look, they both ran at the same time, booking it back to where their bags were.

They hit the cover, and Johnny immediately began digging through their stash. A bullet ripped through the wall above his head and V pushed him down low. When the hail of fire slowed, he removed what he had been searching for and dusted it off. She barely had time to acknowledge the RPG before he was running out again, snarling.

"Johnny!"

She had her gun raised when she came around the corner, and blinked as the chopper exploded. Both of them were knocked off of their feet, the hardwood floor rushing up to meet her back. The white light reminded her of staring at the sun, and she took a minute to recover as she flexed her jaw.

Her voice sounded far away as she called to Gat, and she flopped onto her side as she waited for her eyes to adjust.

"V?"

She crawled forward until she was able to grab his wrist. He grabbed her arm back and she let herself relax. "I'm here, you great fucking idiot."

"Shit, no need to yell in my fucking ear!" His voice sounded a little uneven, and she guessed he was suffering through the same. "If you're jealous, just say so."

She rested her cheek on the floor and didn't loosen her grip. "God, you're awful."


	15. Chapter 15

"I don't see how you can understand this shit."

Shaundi slapped Pierce's hand away from the keyboard and held up a hand. "Hey, back off! Things are pretty damn delicate, and I don't want you fucking this up."

"Aw, come on. I've spent all of five minutes in this room and you're afraid half of this is going up in flames?" He pretended to poke at the screen and Shaundi swiped at him again. "Damn, girl. Chill."

"I'll chill when Johnny's back, and Matt's no longer trying to work the system over."

She went back to typing and Pierce stared over her shoulder, making faces at every new command entered. "Huh."

Her fingers stopped. "Quit it."

"Quit what?"

"Hovering. You're doing it on purpose."

"Can't I just be here for moral support?"

Glaring at him, Shaundi tried to see if he'd give her more space. He didn't. "Because that's totally your specialty."

"What? I can be the king of positive thinking. Endless optimism and all that shit."

"Of course! I must be imagining things!" she said, turning towards him. "Like that one time in Idaho after the first set of polls went through. Completely made that up myself."

Pierce gave her a sour look. "You just had to go for that, didn't you?"

"I had to listen to you whine for an hour straight, and that was on top of steering you clear of Keith. I was not going to miss out on seeing him on a regular basis due to you being a massive creeper."

"Admirer! I was admiring him and showing an appreciation for his work! There's a clear difference between the two," Pierce argued.

"And you did walk a very fine line there, Pierce," V added, sticking her head into the room. "You two done fighting yet, or am I going to have to drag you out by force?"

Shaundi felt her shoulders relax. "He was just finishing up here, boss. I think he got lost on the way to the-"

"The hell is that?"

He pointed at something blinking at the bottom of the screen and Shaundi spun back around to check it. ""What the hell are you...oh, dammit. You two just had to try that route."

V folded her hands behind her head, and walked up behind the two to take a look at the code. The mess of gibberish was impossible to sort through. "What's happening?"

"Oh, great stuff, boss," Shaundi threw out, typing away. "You and Johnny are trying not to get blown to pieces, and Matt's joyriding with your chief. All are avoiding getting shot to shit by Ultor while Dex is one step down from a moustache-twirling villain. Just lovely."

V dropped her arms. "What?"

Shaundi kept on going. "Can't really talk right now. Johnny's working double-time, Matt's throwing numbers at me, and I'm really going to choke that little shit when he gets back here, so help me-"

Her chair spun around, and Shaundi yelped as V leaned forward into her space. "Sorry, hon, but I'd love it if you could."

* * *

This was not ideal.

It wasn't terrible, but as Matt looked over at Troy for the fifth time, he wondered if this was some strange interrogation technique. He hadn't said two words to him since they had left, but didn't appear outwardly hostile like Johnny would.

He'd only asked if he minded him lighting up, and Matt shook his head as he cracked the window enough to keep the car from being suffocating. Then nothing else. The radio was left off, and Matt was left ticking off the seconds as they got closer and closer to their destination.

He reached two hundred and forty-three before speaking. "You don't have any questions?"

Troy glanced in the rear-view mirror and kept his eyes on the road. "About?"

"The factory?" Matt asked, pulling up some information on his PDA. "Would you like me to go over it for you?"

"Nah, I think you went over enough at the meeting, kid."

"Oh, all right." Matt went back to fiddling with his PDA. "The whole idea is rather simple."

"But I might have something else to ask about as long as you're feeling like talking." Troy said, cigarette in hand. "Simple stuff, nothing complicated."

He made sure his eyes didn't leave the screen. "Of course."

"Where'd she find you? Hackers don't exactly broadcast their location. Bad for business, and tends to draw attention from other places."

Ah, this conversation. He'd been expecting it for a while now, so jumping into his rehearsed story wasn't an issue at all. "Like the police, you mean? If you know how to cover your tracks properly, the police are barely a thought in the back of your mind. There, but about as important as the weather that day."

"Okay, I'll give you that, but you contacted her? Or did she contact you?"

Matt let his fingers rest on the keys a second. "I contacted her. Having the Saints put out the call was...inelegant. This made her easy to locate, and I tried to keep our communications discreet after that."

"Sounds like you stay well-informed."

"I do." It got quiet again after that, and Matt held back the nervous feeling trying to settle over him. "It's difficult not to be when one wrong step could put you between a rocket and a jail cell. You have to know the major players before you can take part in the game."

Troy looked over at him and Matt considered his word choice. Much like the situation, it had not been ideal. "Game, eh?"

"Figure of speech."

"And what would you be? Some good Samaritan? Or just some guy who'd like to try feeding information to the boss on the side?"

There it was. The sound of a mission slowly imploding. Matt put down the PDA and wondered if Shaundi was already calling Kinzie over to share in his misery. "No, I don't fancy myself anything. Just an interested party."

"Who has to get something out of this deal. What's your interest, kid?"

_Right now? Actually making it to the factory. Don't think that answer would go over well, however._ "That is getting to the heart of the matter. Are you worried my goals won't intersect with the boss's?"

He didn't answer, but the expression on his face suggested that Matt's next answer had better be a damn good one.

"Ultor presents a large problem. Not just an immediate one, but one that could be felt for years to come. In my realm we require a certain degree of...flexibility. Freedom. That is the complete opposite of what Ultor wants, and I can already see the signs of a complete network overhaul. Restrictions, re-routs, traps, and countless dead ends have appeared. I can stop most now, but there's no guarantee that any others in the area will be able to handle the changes. Everything would fall apart."

"And you see the boss as some great net savior?"

"Uh, not exactly? Putting it in terms of that really lessens the overall point since she's not some supreme ruler of the internet. That's something I've had my eye on, actually-"

"What's your point?" Troy interrupted, honking at the car in front of them. "You're tap-dancing all around it, and I'm not here to give you a fucking gold star for trying."

"She's the one that's going to hold everything together. The network is just as much a part of her empire as everything else, and I know she will rain hell on anyone who dares to take it," he replied, recalling exactly how his own attempt to defend his domain went. It was years down the line, and the experience still made him pale. "And as destructive as they are, the Saints take care of their people. They protect them. Not everyone can enjoy that luxury, and I'd like to pay back some of the same courtesy extended to me. Does that answer your question?"

Troy tapped his fingers on the wheel and turned back to the road. "Sure, kid. For now."

"Wonderful," Matt mumbled, frowning. He had a feeling that this would be an ongoing issue, but that didn't mean that he wanted to confirm it. His phone started going off, and he felt his mood begin to tank even more. "Yes?"

" _Hey, Matt. How's your day going?"_

"...Boss?" His heart might've stopped, just for a second. Troy looked over at him out of the corner of his eye, and Matt tried not to grimace. "Aren't you supposed to be busy right now?"

" _I was, but Shaundi was kind enough to let me get on the horn for a while. Check on my favorite candy kid."_

"I uh, appreciate the sentiment."

" _Anyway, what's up?"_

"We're on our way to the factory."

" _Which means you're still in the car."_

"Yes."

" _And he's definitely giving you the evil eye right now."_

Matt did not try to confirm this. "Yes..?"

" _Oh, Troy."_

"She need something?" Troy asked, puffing away at his cigarette.

_This must be karmic payback in some strange form. Bizarre games of telephone with my current boss and her past psuedo-ex-boyfriend. That must be it exactly._ "Troy would like to know if you need anything."

" _A vacation would be nice."_ She then chuckled. _"...And something else, but I'd hate to ruin your poor virgin ears right now."_

"I don't have-" Matt clamped down on the retort, but remained frazzled. He turned to Troy. "She says, 'a vacation'."

The comment almost drew a smile from him. "What, this isn't enough of a holiday for her?"

"Apparently not. Did you need anything _specific_?"

" _Oh, nothing. Just checking to see if you two were still in one piece. I got the impression that the thing was straining, but Shaundi got Kinzie to take a look at it and it seems fine. I do think that once this is done, however, you and Gat owe me a trip to Freckle Bitch's. Just because."_

"Fine, I suppose I can try to stomach the food."

" _You'd better. Because we're going to have a nice long conversation while we do so. You feel me?"_

"O-of course, but can we talk about that later?" he asked, gripping the phone tightly. "Once the factory's in our hands and not a burning hole in the ground, that is. Though, I'm sure you wouldn't mind that as an alternative."

Troy snorted and Matt kept his fingers crossed. V tutted on the other end. _"Kicking me off already, eh? Fine, I'll leave you boys alone. Just keep your head down once the gunfire starts, and listen to Troy if he has any advice. He knows what he's doing, even if he can be an ass about it . We'll be in touch, Blue_."

That fact he was more sure about than anything.

* * *

Another fact was that manageable - in terms of the difficulty applied by the machine - appeared to have multiple meanings.

Did the task leave you winded, but capable? Manageable. Did the task give you great difficulty, but was still able to be completed? Manageable. Was the task some Herculean effort that you barely managed to scrape by through the grace of resources, skills, and sheer dumb luck? Manageable.

Their situation seemed to be in the third tier, and that was with loopholes enabled. Matt could already feel them beginning to snarl.

They both arrived in the middle of a massive exchange between the Saints, and something Matt could've called Ultor's elite. The men at Dex's apartment didn't have the same hardware these did, so to say that things had been stepped up would be an understatement.

His head went down and stayed down for as long as he could manage it. It was difficult out in the open like this, but the two quickly got out of sight, crouching down by the side of the building.

"Where do we need to go?" Troy asked, raising his voice over the gunfire surrounding them.

Matt kept his gun out and flipped the map to their objective. "We need to clear Ultor out above all else, but if we can stop them, we might be able to acquire some of the weapons they were working on. That's further inside."

"Of fucking course," Troy said, checking his pistol. They made their way towards one of the factory's side entrances and Troy wrenched the door open, gesturing towards it with a hand. "After you."

A few bullets ricocheted off of the door and Matt threw himself against the wall. "No, I think it might be best if you took the lead."

Troy glanced around the corner, checking for any movement. He fired twice, and the two listened for any response. It stayed quiet. Turning back to Matt, he gave him a quick once-over before moving ahead. "Just messing with you, kid. Don't get separated once we're inside."

Matt scrambled after him and the small hallways opened up into a larger room. The dim lighting did not help when it came to pinpointing just how many men were inside, but that same advantage kept them hidden as well. With Troy on point, Matt had plenty of time to get their route sorted while also covering his back. It appeared to be a straight shot. He relayed this, and Troy chuckled. "Yeah, real straight. Should be a breeze."

They turned and Troy shoved him to the side as a machine gun opened fire. The crane in front of them splintered, and Matt kicked his rising panic to the side as Troy returned fire, adopting a more practical stance than the one he had displayed earlier. Gun up, only angled as far as necessary. Matt followed suit, swinging his weapon up over their dwindling cover, and caught the guard in the side, then the face.

It was an excellent one-two shot, and part of him wished Asha could've caught it, if only for a second. At least then she'd finally stop pushing the outdated markmanship sims on him.

"Not bad!" Troy said, waving at him to keep moving.

"I do know the basics," Matt replied, staying close. "The internet does have more to offer than just porn, after all."

A few Saints began trickling in behind them, and the added support made the task much more feasible to complete. He had yet to hear from Johnny, but he knew that he had to be nearby. The amount of bodies piling up around them wouldn't be as abundant otherwise.

"Troy, we need to take a left up here," Matt called, taking the time to reload. His back hit the wall at the end, and he darted through the doorway, taking the lead this time around.

If Shaundi had been in contact with him at this time she would've made an off-hand comment about needing to duck. Since she wasn't, Matt had to deal with the surprise all on his own. ...Along with the sudden punch to the face.

He fell and scrambled off to the side, sharp stabs of pain clouding his vision. His gun skidded ahead of him and he dove for it, trying to roll into the maneuver as smoothly as possible, but it was far from neat, leaving him sprawled on his back while he juggled his pistol between his hands. Recovering quickly, he managed to dispatch the man, but as he climbed to his feet he noticed two more ready to take his place. That problem required a bit more planning. And distance.

So, he took off as fast as possible, picking the empty hall ahead as a staging ground. He made it halfway down before someone jumped out of one of the rooms lining the side. They shoved him face-first into the wall and pulled a gun out, aiming down the hall at the threat waiting for him. He didn't have a good look at them, but he didn't need one.

With a purple leather coat, orange-lensed sunglasses, and her red hair flying free, his boss looked absolutely ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous and completely in her element. Her silenced pistol went off twice, and that was all it needed to do. Their bodies hit the ground and V flipped him over so he could face her properly. "Jesus, Matt. Asha really did let you off easy, eh?"

Any gratitude disappeared instantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She put her gun away. "You're cowering in a corner and flapping around like a two-year-old. That's not proper 'gunfight protocol'."

"I was punched in the bloody face! I think I can take a moment to recover!" he sputtered.

"Sure, if you don't mind getting shot, or just smacked in the head again. I hear that's bad for you brainy types."

Matt dusted off his jacket and huffed. "Well, not everyone has a skull thick as granite, mind you."

"And not everyone tries to find a fancy way to call their boss dense. You are just too damn fussy to exist, Matt-"

Something moved off to their left, and Matt realized their error too late. Troy had his gun leveled right in front of him, his finger hovering over the trigger. "You okay, Miller?"

Matt couldn't move. Neither could V. Her eyes stayed planted on the wall next to his head, and he found he couldn't stop looking at her.

Troy called out again. "Miller?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine."

"You mind telling me who your friend is?"

His throat closed up and he bit his lip in frustration. V gave him a rueful smile and started to slowly raise her hands up in surrender. "It's a little complicated," she replied.

"Well, maybe you can break it down for me," Troy said, getting closer. "Make it nice and simple."

"Textbook, or after-school special?"

"Neither. I'd just like a fucking answer."

"Okay, but I don't know how far this is going to fly." V said, slowly turning around. "Seeing as I'm the boss of the Saints, after all. Try a little deference, Troy, it'd look good on you."

Troy stared at her, his brow furrowed, and they both waited for him to call bullshit. He didn't. "Boss?"

V slipped the sunglasses down the bridge of her nose and grinned. "God, I've missed how stubborn you were."

His jaw dropped. "The fuck?"

Matt's phone was out in an instant. "Shaundi? We need a reset!"

* * *

Shaundi sighed and initiated the command. "Here we go again."


	16. Chapter 16

There was a flash, a strong pull, and then he was crashing into the wall, his legs incapable of holding himself up. Matt tried to steady his breathing, but felt his stomach lurch. He hadn't had anything to eat earlier, something which honestly wasn't helping, but right now it saved him from just vomiting on the pavement in the middle of a massive exchange.

One that he was still involved in. That fact hit once his equilibrium decided to stop see-sawing like crazy.

Bullets flew above his head as Troy crouched down beside him, half of his attention ahead. "Shit, kid. You okay?"

"Nerves. This is...not quite like the simulations promised." He'd never been subjected to an actual reset before, and it occurred to him that Johnny's been through at least fifteen. How he could still stand and function was beyond him.

"You're telling me. All the training in the world's nothing compared to this. Can you walk?"

"Of course I can-" Matt stumbled, and Troy tried to help him up. "I'm all right! Go ahead, I'll be close behind."

He was skeptical, but nodded and went ahead, his handgun still up. Matt braced himself, then got to his feet as well. Swaying slightly, he pulled out his pistol and felt it shake in his hands. His grip was far from sure, but he could feel the sensation beginning to wear off. It wasn't fast enough for his liking, but it would have to do.

"I hope you know what you're doing, boss," he whispered to no one in particular.

* * *

"God, I should've read the manual. The read-me. Whatever the hell it is," V groaned, trying to hold herself upright.

Her insides felt like they had been hit by a wrecking ball, and as she took a few cautious steps forward, her vision swam. The more she blinked the more it improved, but she still had no choice but to ride out the wave of post-reset nausea. Kinzie had brought it up a total of one time, but of course she hadn't retained anything of it aside from the fact that it sucked.

That was a fact that she could confirm, and as she dragged herself along she tried to jog her fuzzy memory as well. She'd stepped in to assist Matt, miscalculating the odds that Troy would stumble in after them. It had been almost a 50/50 shot, something which Shaundi had warned her about, but she'd disregarded it completely. It was simple enough. Should've been simple enough anyway.

But this was her. She had enough of a hard time keeping things simple when it was left to her and her alone. With the set of variables she was working with the writing was practically on the wall. It was going to get complicated, and with them it was going to get complicated fast. The gun to the head definitely fell into that category, but she had trouble regretting the slip. It was stupid and selfish to still want to see him, but she did. Even now.

V chuckled bitterly, but had to put a hand over her mouth when the nausea kicked back. It passed after a moment and she steadied herself, focusing on the feeling of the ground beneath her feet. Her shaky hand removed her phone and dialed Shaundi. "Hey, is Matt covered?"

" _Yeah, he's doing fine now. Sorry about the rough ride, boss."_

"It's a hazard of the job, no big deal. Where's Johnny?"

" _He's a couple of rooms over. I've tried to get a hold of him, but he's not picking up."_

"Probably distracted by the Masako-lite then. Don't worry, I've got him."

" _Stay safe, V."_

"Will do, hon."

She hung up and checked her weapons quickly, keeping an eye out for any stray Ultor soldiers. None made their way into her tiny crawlspace, so once she was ready she ran out towards the area generating the loudest amount of gunfire.

There was a lull as she got closer, and she sped up, nearly sprinting as she came up on Johnny's location. Throwing her back against the wall, she peeked inside, checking for any sign of movement. There was little else aside from bodies, and she swore under her breath as she tiptoed around them.

"Johnny?"

It took a second, but he responded. "...That you, V?"

"Yeah, I got impatient waiting for you guys to finish. Wanted to see if I could lend a hand." Shots hit the group of crates shielding her and she opened fire on the soldier above her head. He fell off of the catwalk and she crouched down low to stay hidden.

More gunfire went off close by and she moved towards it, listening for anything strange. Johnny chuckled. "You always were too fucking stubborn to wait for anyone."

V came around the corner and found him leaning against the wall, breathing hard. He was rarely winded by anything, so seeing him like this now was almost disturbing. He raised his head in acknowledgment, a tired smile on his face, and she couldn't get to him fast enough. "Holy shit, Johnny! The hell did you do?"

"The hell did _you_ do? I've been shooting anyone not flying Saints colors in this place. Following those damn guidelines to the fucking T." His nose was bleeding and he didn't shake her off when she checked him over. "Just taking a small break. Getting ready for round two."

She nearly punched him. "You know you're bleeding, right?"

He swiped his arm under his nose and shrugged. "That's nothing."

"Nothing, eh? You're really making me want to kick the shit out of you right now."

"Sweet talk'll get you anywhere, boss," he joked, ignoring how irritated she was. "But seriously, I'm fine. You know I am."

She started to object only to have him press a rough kiss against her mouth. It was tangible, real, and so very him. She gripped the front of his hoodie tightly in one hand and kissed him back almost hard enough to make it hurt. "...You're such a fucking asshole," she breathed, holding him close.

"Love you too, V. Now how about we finish taking down these motherfuckers?"

"You even have to ask?"

* * *

"Is that what I think it is?" Matt ran up to the computer and examined it closely. "Oh, I hope it bloody well is."

Troy watched him enter in one command and then another, clearly reading the information without understanding any of it. "What are you talking about?"

"If they haven't had time to do so this should give us some limited access to Ultor's records here. We can get the weapons schematics and any information about potential dealers and buyers. It might also allow us access to other strongholds or bases that they might be setting up." He plugged in his PDA and began to initiate a download, typing as fast as his fingers would allow. "It could take a while to secure this, so I think it goes without saying that cover would be greatly appreciated."

Troy signaled to the other Saints in the area. "Cover all of the entrances and exits to this room. If anyone comes this way without a shred of purple on them, take them out. We can't be sloppy here, got it?"

They moved out and Matt went back to what he knew best, twisting the code to suit his own purposes and desires. What was both maddening and appealing about this one in particular was the challenge. He knew it was going to be present, but the way it was trying to cut him off was nothing short of creative.

Tuning out the yelling surrounding him, he stayed low and on task. Stray bullets whizzed by him, but he couldn't afford to flinch or stop. Once it was secure he switched to the next objective, avoiding a certain and painful demise.

His gun came out again, and he stayed close to the equipment to make sure that it wouldn't be damaged. Troy still stuck to him – possibly due to suspicion or loyalty to the boss, both seemed plausible – and gave him as much cover as he could afford.

"How much longer?"

Matt eyed the PDA's screen and swore. "We're only at seventy-six percent! I need more time!"

"Fuck. Just stay down!"

His phone began to ring, buzzing incessantly as he tried to pick off the growing number of Ultor men surrounding them. He ignored it until the fourth time it started up again and pulled it out of his pocket. "Do you mind?" he yelled.

" _Hell, no,"_ Pierce said from the other end. _"Just wanted to let you know that it'll be about a minute before Ultor drops it. Just keep doing what you're doing."_

Matt stared at his phone in disbelief. "Did Shaundi really leave this to you?"

" _Why not? How difficult is it to talk into a mic?"_

"It's not just about the microphone, you-"

The phone fell as he ducked down to avoid the laser sight drawing a bead on his position. The wall behind him took the bullet, but it had missed him by inches. Much too close for him to be comfortable with it.

Matt held his hands over his ears for a few seconds before dragging the phone back to him. "Fine! We'll hold our ground! Is there anything else?"

" _Shaundi did mention ducking."_

He gave a short aggravated yell and hung up, going for his gun again. Each added percent felt like a grain of sand in an hourglass, but when it reached eighty-nine percent the soldiers coming in simply stopped.

Matt felt his stomach drop as everything became quite silent. Troy was just as tense as he reloaded his gun.

"Hey!" One of the Saints that had been assisting them called out. "They're leaving!"

Going over Pierce's words again, Matt tried to relax, but had trouble doing so with his adrenaline spiking through the roof. "So it seems. I hope it doesn't seem ungrateful of me to not trust that."

"I'm not buying it either. Too damn convenient for us, and who knows what they're getting out of it." Progress went up by two percent as he watched Troy dig out his phone, and he didn't have to guess which number he put in. "V? ...V? Everything okay?"

He turned away and Matt tried not to pay too close attention to him. It was difficult not to notice the way he relaxed after a minute, however. She was safe, or at least in no immediate danger. It made him wonder how his own version was faring.

It also made him wonder just how much shit they were in. The wrap up after this was not going to be an enjoyable experience.

"How's the boss?" he asked, glad to see the number rise up to ninety-seven. "Doing better than we are?"

"Sort of."

That made him glance over. "Sort of?"

"Nah, she's fine. Just pissed that Dex refused to show up. No surprise there." Troy slowly got to his feet, but didn't put his pistol away. "They're doing clean up right now and then they're heading back to the mansion."

"Excellent," Matt said, counting down the seconds to the completion of the download. "At least this plan's coming together. Now to just give things a little more time..." The screen flashed. "Oh, don't even start!"

He pulled the plug and Troy raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I've seen small inconsistencies like that turn into major issues. I'll go over the data before we introduce it to our systems, because the last thing we need is to give them a backdoor into our own."

"You have everything you need then?"

"Yes. Now shall we get out of here? I'd hate to find out too little too late that Ultor's left a nasty surprise for us."

They backtracked out of there quickly, making sure that the Saints there were secure and able to defend their location. The amount of people standing by to take orders was staggering, and the amount of devotion they showed even this early in the boss's rule was surprising. Everything that had been found and salvaged had been reported immediately, and Matt could already see the start of a sizable arsenal at this location alone. The plans in his possession would speed that process up, but that was provided he could access the complete set instead of fractured pieces.

He was in the process of trying to crack one of the files from his PDA when he received a text message. It was short and to the point.

_FB's 8 PM_

_-V_

Matt sighed and checked the time. It was going to be a long night.


	17. Chapter 17

"Will you just fuck off, already?"

Johnny tried to push her away, but V slapped at him just as hard. "No. You're singed all over, I'm singed all over, and if I want to put a goddamn bandage on you, it's going on. Tough shit."

After making it out of Dex's apartment remarkably intact, they had left the clean up to the others as she had practically dragged Johnny's ass out of there. Her eyebrows were still present – thank whoever for that – but both were worn out, exposed to a hell of a lot more smoke than healthy, and too close to crispy for to her to feel comfortable with it.

She wasn't injured aside from the usual aches and bruises that came from being a Saint, but Johnny had been smacked with a decent chunk of debris once the chopper had gone up. It hadn't been on fire, but it still had hit hard, judging from his initial reaction to her poking his side. Blood also stained his shirt, but his reaction to that didn't even register.

He'd hissed and tried to shove her off, but relented long enough for her to help him get to his feet. Now, back at their temp HQ he was having none of it, and planned on fighting her every step of the way.

This was Johnny fucking Gat. Days after having his knee pieced back together he was out running down VKs like it was going out of style. He knew his limits and never failed to barrel past them, but he was still human. She was not going to be the one to watch him fall apart at the seams just because he was too damn stubborn to sit still and _heal_ for fuck's sake.

"I mean it, Gat. Let me help."

"I want to see you fucking try," he growled, his patience wearing thin.

She scoffed at him. "Will you chill for five damn minutes? I'm trying to wrap a bandage around you, not gouge the shit out of the side of your Venom. You know that the more you fight with me, the more I'm going to fight back, right?"

He took in a breath and slowly exhaled, ready to snap, but eventually calmed down. "Yeah, but you're wasting your time. Should be back at Dex's, or over at the factory. Someone's got to start drafting up whatever the hell they've got stored there."

"I've got a good group of Saints on the first, and Troy on the second. Matt's there to back him up, so all I have left to deal with is you." V unwrapped the bandage and held out one end to him. "Do this for me and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day. Promise."

Gat puffed himself up again, but let out a sharp exhale when he shifted wrong. "...Fuck it."

He pulled his ruined tank off and grabbed the bandage. The actual external injury wasn't major, but one jagged streak made her wonder if a bullet had grazed him on their way into the apartment. Cleaning those didn't take a lot of time, and when she was ready to start wrapping she gave him the signal. She'd done this a couple of times before with Luis when he'd caught the bad end of a knife, but both had had no reservations about what needed to be done.

With Johnny she had roughly eighty percent of his cooperation, and the other twenty percent went into holding his arms up stiffly as she wrapped the bandages around his midsection, and scowling fiercely. She wrapped him up quick while trying to avoid his eyes, and tried not to lean any closer than necessary.

"Stubborn idiot," she muttered, adjusting the bandage to make sure it wasn't too tight. "I think you might've cracked something. That's going to be fun to tell the doctor."

"Big fucking deal. Everything's in place, so I can't complain." She laid her palm against his side and he held his breath. "Trying to prove a fucking point?"

She quickly withdrew her hand. "No. I just...I just don't know what I would've done in your place if you hadn't been there." _Both times, actually._ "Nothing really holds you back, huh?"

"Just got to think big, boss. Unless you plan on having me save your ass all the time."

"Maybe." It slipped out and she quickly shifted her attention to the first aid kit sitting next to him. "Check this damn thing for some iodine, would you?"

"The fuck do we need iodine for? Bandage's already down-"

She shoved it into his hands and dug out her cigarette pack, hurriedly lighting one up. As she got to work on smoking it down he held up a small bottle and pretended to toss it over his shoulder. She took it back before he could do so.

"Got an extra?"

She was checking the instructions on the bottle, and raised an eyebrow. "Extra...?"

"Cigarette. Wouldn't mind one."

She started to get her pack out, but Johnny took hers, pulling a long drag off of it. After hanging with either for an extended period of time, she guessed it had to be a thing with Johnnys. Reckless endangerment and a lack of personal space. "Mine'll do?"

"Yeah. It'll do."

He exhaled and she put the iodine back into the kit. She saw him shake his head out of the corner of her eye, but didn't acknowledge it. "Johnny?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Whatever," he said, frowning. "Probably shouldn't trust you with explosives anyway. What with your tendency to, you know."

He didn't continue that thought and V was grateful for it.

"Hey, V-"

V glanced over at him, but both turned towards the door at the front as Aisha entered. He rubbed the back of his neck almost sheepishly as she walked over, and V held up her hands as she raised an eyebrow at their appearance.

"Not my fault."

"Nice, boss," he said, throwing a glare her way. "Just going to leave me hanging?"

"Don't get on her just because you're allergic to the word careful." Aisha sighed and V stepped back when she approached Johnny. "It's a miracle every day that you come back in one piece."

"Eh, pieces still count, right?"

They laughed and V made a very non-stealthy exit, slipping into the hallway.

* * *

V almost fell out of her seat later when Troy and Matt finally found her. She was parked next to the map that Troy had marked with Ultor's locations of interest, and when they burst into the library, Matt chittering all the way, she sat up too fast to be graceful.

It was at this moment that she realized she was still wearing her slightly burnt jacket, and there was likely a streak of something or other going across her face. She wiped at it idly with her sleeve and the red came back dark. Her jeans still had streaks on them as well, and she was sure that a fine layer of dust was also covering every inch of her body. Lovely.

Troy eyed her carefully as she dusted her lap off, while Matt did his best not to notice. Both got the full brunt of her annoyed expression anyway. "Well, you're both in cheerful moods."

"And you actually look like you almost caught the bad end of a rocket. The fuck was he thinking?" Troy asked, exasperated.

"'Hey, there's a helicopter? It shouldn't be in the air any more?'" V guessed, wishing she'd taken the time to change. "Might've been along those lines."

"Of fucking course he would," he said, clearly irritated. "Big problem requires a big solution, right?"

"Hey, don't you fucking start with me too. I had to spend ten minutes getting him to cool it, and I don't want to go through the same shit with you. Or you," she shot, making Matt snap to attention. "Now's not the time, and you know what? It actually wasn't a bad idea in hindsight, because I'd rather be _burnt_ than dead. Go figure."

Troy pulled back a bit, regaining his composure, but he wasn't done. "It was still too close of a call."

"Good thing he rarely misses then, eh? Probably wouldn't hurt to invest in a targeting system or gear that's actually fireproof, though. Third-degree burns do hurt like a motherfucker, and this jacket isn't going to do shit to protect me. ...But at least I look good, right?"

That actually got a laugh out of him. It was short and far from amused, but she took it. "Yeah. Yeah, you do," he sighed, relenting. "Fucking Gat. He's still kicking, right?"

"Oh, yeah. He's doing just fine."

"Good. At least there's that."

"...Boss?" Matt took this moment to speak up, and V noticed he had begun to fiddle with his PDA. "We managed to get most of the information over at the factory, but there was a small complication."

"Complication? Ooh, that's a tricky word to throw out there," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Want to clarify?"

"Hmm, how do I put this? There was an inconsistency in the recovery process. Now it could be a simple computational error, but the chance that Ultor left a few surprises behind in the data for us to find is more likely. Now the Saints have nowhere near the network that Ultor does-"

"That's a fucking understatement," V muttered.

"-but any attempts to compromise the system handling the data would be catastrophic. And the system in question would have to be mine."

"So...?"

Matt tried not to roll his eyes, but failed. "We have the information, but until I'm able to safely run it through a fine sieve, so to say, we can't use it."

"What do you need?" V asked.

"Time and access to my gear. The first shouldn't be too much of an issue, but I would need a decently sized space that is suitable for wires, adapters, and the like."

"Cool. You want a few guys to help you transport it?"

Matt shook his head. "No, I should be able to manage it just fine. Once I'm settled the processing itself shouldn't take long either."

"How much time are we talking about here?" Troy asked, crossing his arms.

"One to two days at the most, and only in the event of extreme complications."

V nodded fast so Matt wouldn't have any time to elaborate. "Let's hope there aren't then. Have fun with all that programming whatchamahoozit, whatever it is."

Matt cringed. "Of course, boss. You'll be the first to hear about anything new."

He quickly left like he always did, and V laughed. "God, he moves fast."

"Didn't think we made it that awkward."

V glared at him. "You're kidding, right?" He threw the glare back at her, and she seriously hoped they weren't doing this all over again. "Troy, I know it's hard to adjust, but what do you see when you look at me?"

Troy tilted his head to the side, but after thinking it over he pursed his lips. "I see you."

"And not the person who's supposed to be your boss?"

He glanced away. "...I'm working on it. Old habits."

"Work harder, okay? Especially in front of the new crew. I know you and Johnny want to be my big, strong defenders, but that shit gets old fast. You trust me, right?" He met her eyes and nodded. "I sure as hell hope so, so please, give me some fucking respect and work with me here."

"I'm trying, V. I'm trying." He ran a hand through his hair and didn't bother to hide the concern on his face. "...But you drive me crazy, you know that?"

"I know, but that's-" _why you love me, right?_ "-part of the experience, I guess. I can try to keep it to the kind you like."

"Good luck there. Sometimes even I can't tell the difference."

He smoked away at his cigarette for a bit, burning it to burn it, and she gestured towards it. He handed it over without question, and she didn't relax until she was taking a good drag herself. The time between cigarettes was getting worse on her end, but she had trouble caring about that right now. Giant corporations were just a bit higher on the list than lung disease.

"...You trust that kid?"

She blew out a long puff of smoke and handed the cigarette back. "Matt? Enough, why?"

"What story did he give you?"

"Story? He's a hacker. I'm sure he RPs on the weekends when he's not shit-stirring. I thought they stuck it to the man for fun."

"Maybe the ones that you've seen in the movies, but not the kids like him. He's got something else in mind, but I can't put my fucking finger on it."

"Troy, relax. You're doing it again."

"What?"

"Acting like a c-" She held her tongue, and didn't like the way that almost casually slipped out.

The way he tensed told her how he felt about it as well. "I am?"

V smiled, but it fell flat. "Maybe a little."

"I'm keeping an eye out. Someone has to, but...fuck. I never was good at dealing with any of this online shit." He put out the old stub on a nearby ashtray and pulled out a new cigarette. He then held another one out to her until she took it. "You sure you really trust him?"

"Yes, Troy. I do." He lit her cigarette and she stood close enough to him to let their shoulders touch. "I'm not as picky when it comes to screening – which I know has to piss you off – but I don't have a lot of options. Unless there's a neat way for you to check his background with the cops, I have to go off of what he's offered. Which is pretty damn good to say the least."

"In terms of initial offerings he couldn't have picked much better," he admitted. "Wasn't a bad shot, though, once he stopped trying to throw up all over the place. Got hit bad by nerves."

She snickered a little. "That's real life for you. Sucks and doesn't even bother to give you an experience boost." V snapped her fingers. "Oh, before I forget, did you hear back from your contact yet? Things have been running a mile a minute here, and I was out the door before I could think about it."

"Uh, yeah, actually." He flicked his cigarette and went to stand in front of the map. "I've got a file full of people that Ultor's got their eye on in some way or another. Names, positions, the works. All of them are pretty damn ideal picks for patsys."

"Any clue who's at the top of the list?" she asked, leaning against the table by the board.

He hesitated, but didn't spend too long thinking about it. "There's a guy named Dave Johnson. He's got the commendations, the experience, and he's easy enough to manipulate. You might think he's aiming to impress, but he's really just in it to get himself ahead."

"Think we can sway him?"

"Sway?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sway. Unless you want us to break his legs instead. That's a valid option, but I'd rather not send extra people to the hospital right now, especially if they could work with us."

"Good point. He's self motivated. If we can convince him that siding with us won't get back to Ultor, I think we can set something up."

"You want to take point on that?" Surprise crossed his face, and V frowned. "You know him, right? You've got the advantage here. We could use that."

"No, I get it. It's just...never mind. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Good. We'll take apart some of the other strongholds in the meantime and we'll be set. Or at least one step closer to being set."

She pushed herself away from the table, and stepped in front of him. It wasn't much of a stretch, but she leaned forward and used the collar of his shirt to pull him down. The kiss was meant to be brief, but they let it linger, and V had to break it before long.

"Just watch your own back out there, okay?"

"Because no one else is?" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and let the corner of his mouth curve up. "Sure thing, boss."


	18. Chapter 18

"Oh, Jesus, I'm in heaven." V took another bite of her food and made a contented noise, leaving Johnny staring at her as she kept on going. "This should be worse than I remember. Instead it's better."

"It wasn't always great, but you kept on ordering the wrong shit. The burgers were where it was at. Nice you see you finally agree." She smiled, and he snickered. "You want me to leave you two alone for a minute?"

"Shut up. Maybe I do." A few of his fries made their way onto her side of the table, and she dared him to stop her.

He leaned back in his chair and V took a very loud drink from her soda. "Still pissed?"

She took a longer, louder sip, her good mood fading fast. "Maybe."

"Like how bad are we talking about here?"

The rest of his fries disappeared and she refused to look at him. "I'm pissed, does it matter?"

"Yeah, it does, because you want to talk about it, but you don't want to talk about it."

"We're talking, aren't we? At least we're past step one."

"It's no different from what you did with Eesh. Stepping in." V dropped her food and turned to look at him, every muscle in her body tensed. Johnny on the other hand, was completely relaxed, his head tilted her way. "And maybe I wanted to see if I could pay Julius back for all he's done. That worked for a while, but that still didn't change shit with the Alderman. Or with you. I figured, why not go with it? See where it went?"

She forced herself to breathe and unwind. "I know, Johnny. I know, but you really want to jump through this many hoops just to see what could result from a maybe?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but you're trying too hard for this."

"For this, or for you?"

"...I'm not going to answer that."

Johnny put his feet up on the unused chair by them and crossed his arms. "Right, just go ahead and fucking dodge it. Just because you know exactly which one-"

"We're not talking about this, okay? What I am worried about is how you keep on ignoring all the weird shit this thing's trying to pile onto you. _That's_ my problem."

"The stress? It's nothing."

"Jesus, Johnny. Nothing? I'll bet you a million bucks it's nothing like your knee had been nothing."

He sat back up and turned her chair to the side, the legs skidding against the tile. The motion nearly made her fall out of it. "V, look at me."

She did, and frankly they both still looked like shit from the shootout earlier, but she did. "Yeah?"

"Am I bleeding?"

"Not anymore-"

"Forget the fucking nosebleed. Am I bleeding out? Guts hanging everywhere?"

She frowned. "No."

"Anything cracked, broken, falling off?"

"No."

"Am I sitting here, okay, and just as pissed off as you are?"

"...Yes."

"Then why are you still fussing over me like I'm about to fall apart? I'm not going anywhere."

"Because while I've got a mess of bad habits to fix, so do you. You're not careful, and I'm not done thinking you're going to disappear yet." V pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and tugged his down just enough to see him over them. "And since we've got heads made out of fucking diamond, how much progress do you think we've made on fixing either?"

The argument between them played out differently when she was able to look him in the eye. "It's there."

She gave it a second and nodded. "Okay, I'll give you that. It's small, but it is. I just wish you'd realize that while being Mr. Intergalactic Badass does give you some serious perks, it doesn't exactly grant you invulnerability."

"Look who's talking," he said, pushing his glasses back up. "Why do we got to fight about this shit, anyway? I'm here for you. It's what I do."

"Yeah, and I'd like to keep you around for as long as possible. I'm trying to make up for lost time here." She reached forward to play with the ties on his hoodie. "You understand that, right?"

"Yeah, I get it."

She tied an obnoxious bow and he chuckled. It didn't suit him at all, but he let it stay. "Good, because I'm here for you too."

"Even though you're trying to put me in a coma with all the sap you're feeding me?"

"Oh, fuck you," she replied, smiling warmly.

Johnny faked a wounded look, but it didn't last. "Don't make promises you can't keep, boss."

"You think I won't?"

"Don't know yet."

The damn bow gave her something good to hold onto then, and she pulled him close, but not close enough. "Maybe I just want to make you work for it."

"What if I don't feel like playing?" he asked, his voice going low.

One of his hands started to travel up her thigh, and she leaned away from him when he tried to get closer. "Tough shit. I'm making you."

"Do you two ever stop for five minutes?"

V tilted her head a hair to the side, just enough to spot a frustrated Matt. "Yes."

"And do I even need to explain how the inside of this place isn't even remotely romantic?"

"You missed out on the way she took the Fist. Pretty fucking great."

"Shut up." She pushed him back, but let a grin slip through as she angled her seat towards Matt. "You going to sit down or keep on gawking?"

Matt scrunched his face up, but pulled the seat across from her out to sit down. "I haven't even gone into how anyone could approach you here. Proper safety and protocol-" He adjusted his seat and the sound of something coming unstuck from the floor drew his eye. "...Is that what I think it is?"

"Better not to ask, kid," Johnny said, draping an arm across the back of V's seat. "You ordering anything?"

"Is anything actually...edible?"

"They have a rocking milkshake," V offered.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Amongst other things, I'm sure. By the way, do we still need to..?"

"Yes."

"Oh, fine. I suppose it was going to happen eventually. Either before or after one of us showed up with a cadre of duplicates, or tried to port something back to the ship that wasn't meant to be transported. What do you want to know?"

" None of that technical junk. You all keep on trying to throw it at me, but it's like hitting a brick wall with a small hammer. It'll chip off small pieces here and there, but it's not getting through. What I want to know is how dangerous this is."

"Dangerous?" Matt looked over at Johnny, then back at her. "You're concerned about the stress it could cause to the system now? After everything else?"

"Yeah, because I don't remember our trip to Juarez making me feel that much like shit. The morning after, sure, but not then," V said.

"You ate a glowing, green worm. I don't think you were supposed to do that."

Johnny shrugged. "Everybody's got to do it once."

"We're off-topic, and I think I have an idea why," Matt said, side-eying them both. "But I'm willing to try and go over everything again. Please understand that there are some details that you will have to learn over time, boss. There's no way around it, and Juarez, as much of a disaster that was in hindsight, wasn't in need of a reset. We were working in an isolated instance that had no impact on future events. Also, no one even seemed concerned about any changes to that timeline. The same could've been said of our ill-fated trip to Pompeii."

V and Johnny nodded in unison.

"So, you're both acknowledging that was a bad idea?"

"Hell no, but coughing up ash for a week sucked," V pointed out, wincing at the memory of how her throat and eyes burned. "Pretty fucking funny how many dicks were carved into the place, though. Didn't have to add a thing."

"The point about Pompeii," Matt said, cutting in, "was that it was also another isolated instance where we could do whatever we bloody well wanted. This time, is not. It was specifically chosen and monitored so that changes could be made to leave as much of a positive impact as possible! Positive, as in non-destructive, mind you."

She felt Johnny grip the back of the chair. "I've been pretty fucking positive."

"For now, but at the start? I can easily come up with at least eight to ten dead timelines. The boss stepped in, and that reset resulted in another."

V held up her hand. "Eight to ten?"

"Yes. The dead timelines on their own function normally, but for us they're useless. We call them dead, because any other changes that we wish to make will not help us achieve our desired result. It's a dead end. However, this does not mean that we have to accept it. If we find ourselves in a position where no more corrections can be made, or with a choice that could lead to that we can opt for a reset. Someone has to implement the command from the outside, and choose a safe point not too far from the moment where the unwanted change was made. In this instance a change was that the three of us could not afford to work with, so I had Shaundi go and wipe the slate clean. ...Cleaner, might be a better way of looking at it, actually."

"The hell happened on her end anyway?" Johnny asked.

Matt shook his head. "Not important. The issue with the reset itself is that it has to physically shift us back to our previous position in the timeline. The effect of that force on every small atom that makes up our whole is huge. It has to keep us contained and restricted to our shape and particular genetic makeup, while also making sure that we can travel back to that specified location."

V's chin plopped down into her palm. "You're getting all sparkly-eyed again, Matt."

"And then I remember who I'm talking to, a cruel reality," he muttered. "As I was saying, when you have to jump back and forth due to a large variety of mistakes, the machine exerts stress on you. Doing this too often can be harmful, but only if you're pushing it and yourself to extremes."

She glared at Johnny, but he ignored her entirely. "As long as you don't fuck around with it too much."

"Precisely. We tread carefully and we can avoid excessive resets. For that reason, I have Shaundi monitoring everything carefully, and when I'm back at my station I'll do the same. Zinjai did have an interesting set of theories that could be used to solve these issues, however. It's quite fascinating-" V groaned and Matt let the sentence drop. "But that's for me to know and for you to push completely out of your mind for other things, like song lyrics to every 80's power ballad. I do have one question for you, boss."

"Sure, hit me."

"Do you want to continue?"

"Continue...?"

"Fucking around with us," Johnny said, leaning into her space again.

She wiped her face with one of the napkins littered on the table and grinned. "Wording, man. I also thought we weren't supposed to do that."

He withdrew, but not entirely. "Already did it when I got your ass off of the boat. Don't think this'll hurt too bad."

"It might help, actually," Matt added. "I'm working with the Saints as a direct liaison, so my movements are being monitored. You and Johnny are restricted to spaces where your other halves aren't. That actually gives you quite a bit of freedom as long as Shaundi gives you the proper go-ahead."

"I'd hate to break up your bro time. It seemed like such a lovely bonding experience for you two."

"Oh, no," Matt insisted, pulling out his PDA, "this is about as ideal a time as any. You would be a much better number two to Johnny's number one, or vice versa, and I can go back to cracking Ultor's systems." He flipped through a few items, then pushed it towards her. "First things first, you need to read this over."

V picked it up and squinted at the screen. "The hell is this?"

"The current minutes and breakdown of the mission objectives. Or rather a summary of the tasks completed so far. Before we continue you do need to be aware of what we've accomplished, and I will not take no for an answer."

She put the PDA down and scowled. "Matt..."

"Now if you'll excuse me," he said, pushing his chair back, "I have a milkshake to order."

* * *

"Asha's created a monster," V mumbled, leaning against Johnny as they went down the sidewalk towards their cars.

"Sure he wasn't always like that?"

"Not sure, but that's James Bond-type shit coming out of his mouth. Minutes, minutia, gibberish. I'm lucky he didn't bring a stack of papers with him to sign with my blood." Johnny wrapped an arm around her and she came to a stop. "You're sure about this?"

"About?"

"All of this?" V had to tilt her head back to look up at him.

"No. Sure enough, though. Don't need much more than that."

"Yeah, I guess we've done stupider shit for less."

"We?"

V kicked his sneaker and he pulled her close, ruffling her hair while he was at it. She threw him a dirty look, but grabbed the bow at the neck of the hoodie and gave it a single tug. His mouth had just touched hers when something started buzzing in her pocket, and she dug her phone out with a sigh. "Yeah?"

" _Boss?"_ It was Shaundi, and V raised an eyebrow at the tone she was using. _"Just got the rundown from Matt, and I think I've got something that you might want to check out."_


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally. Had to work out some more things with the outline, so apologies for the wait!

"Remember this?"

V propped her arms up on the back of Shaundi's chair and whistled. "Those tricky dicks. I shouldn't be surprised at all, but damn. They've got some fucking balls of steel."

The images of the Pyramid flashed by, and it appeared relatively unchanged from the incarnation they had faced. High-tech, full of scientists and company secrets, it was buzzing with activity and looked like it had been for a while.

"I always thought they'd built it over the five year period, but with that much going on? No way."

"I know, right?" Shaundi clicked a few buttons and the two watched the Pyramid slowly piece itself together, growing from a scattered group of people in lab coats into the large hidden facility they had dealt with. "Looks like they've always had their eye on Stilwater, but waited."

"Turf wars really do have a way of making the suits uneasy. Civil unrest, the classless roaming free." She shuddered. "God, I can't even say those words without feeling shitty. ...But there's a reason you're focusing on the Pyramid, isn't there?"

"I'm seeing a lot more activity going on there. Matt hasn't had a chance to crack their major projects yet, but this is Ultor we're talking about. You try to tell them no, they don't always take kindly to it, and if you stand in their way you're worse off. They want the Row, they're going to fight you for it."

"Figured as much after the lovely welcome wagon I got. Er, younger me got," V said, sharing Shaundi's serious expression. "They're getting ready to move some big guns out, aren't they?"

Shaundi nodded. "If we keep on resisting? You bet. We're in a much better position than we could've been, but this is still the Masako. We're already interfering enough, but something needs to happen on their end to stop that from getting worse."

"Fuck. You're saying that we need to find a way to get them to partner with us again, right?"

"Unless you plan on taking out the entire company, that would be a much better idea," Shaundi said, giving her a warning look. "They're assholes, but they're useful ones."

"You don't have to tell me twice. The amount of work that Pierce got out of them was-" V let the words hang in the air for a few minutes, then tilted her head. "Damn. That was all Pierce."

V rubbed her chin and when Shaundi caught the glint in her eye she regarded it warily. "Are you seriously-"

"Where the hell is Pierce right now?"

"He's probably back in the rec room thumbing through another issue of Nyte Blayde, if he isn't trying to get Ben to collaborate on a guest chapter in his book."

"No, in that time."

Shaundi folded her arms. "You are serious."

"Oh yeah. We're making this happen."

Sighing heavily, she spun her chair back to face the screen and started typing in the necessary parameters. "Please don't ask about me."

V's eyebrow went up, but she shut her mouth at the warning glare sent her way. "I'm better off not knowing?"

"Yeah. Blame Miller for that."

"He must've struck gold then."

"Sure. Think whatever you want about it, because that's going with me to my grave." She pressed a few more keys and smirked. "And his too. I've already sworn him to secrecy. Should hold up fairly well under pressure with Asha as his partner too."

"Shit, no arguing there, but no hints or guesses?"

"No."

"Not even a freebie-"

"No."

"Damn. Ice cold."

* * *

"All right, all right," V tried to say around the loud yawn coming out of her mouth. The knocking stopped, and she wiped her eyes before grabbing the doorknob. "Fuck's sake, you get up way too early for it to be-"

Johnny leaned against the wall by the door and both his eyebrows were raised.

"Oh." Her mouth snapped shut while his started to curve into a smile. "Uh, morning."

"Morning. Expecting someone?"

Her response came fast. "No. But I've had enough early calls from assholes like you to have a few choice comments to throw at them."

He laughed. "True, that. Anyway, I've been thinking about our next move. Remember Nob Hill?"

"Kinda. You said that they were thinking of staking it out, right?"

"Yeah."

"So..."

"Thinking ain't the same as knowing, and no one out there's giving me a straight answer."

"Tut, tut. Getting impatient?" That got her a warning look. "Okay, maybe not! Give a girl a break, Gat. I'm still waking up."

She walked towards her closet, stretching her arms over her head, and began pulling things out. Johnny followed and leaned against the dresser, but pushed himself off of it in no time at all, choosing to pace instead.

"God, you're antsy." She pulled out a red shirt then put it back. "...The hell are you doing running around for anyway? You should be resting."

"Did that. And?"

"Close to eight hours of bullshit isn't enough, Johnny."

"I'm up and we need to hit this place. I don't want anyone else on it."

She pulled out something neutral and tossed it onto her bed. "Even if I'd already be on it?" He didn't reply and V closed the closet door a bit harder than intended. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, man."

"You know you should be dead right now, right?"

The coat hanger in her hand bounced off of the floor as her grip slipped on it. Panic tried to hit in the few seconds she considered it, but she crushed it down. "Yeah. Probably."

"So why are we even having this conversation?"

The tightness in her chest lingered as she stared at him, her fingers toying with the hem of her shirt. A thread had come loose, and she couldn't stop picking at it. "You're a bastard, you know that?"

"Maybe. No need to lie about the facts, though."

The string came out further and she was sure she'd have to trash the shirt after this. "I get it. Still want to call you a bastard, however."

"Probably earned that one," he said, his serious look fading. "But seriously. Fuck you going anywhere by yourself. Weird shit keeps on happening, and we need a better idea of what's going on."

She sighed. "We're making progress, but it's never enough, is it?" Shaking the tension off, she continued to gather clothes up, and yanked a decent pair of slacks out of her dresser. The folded crease along the leg wouldn't come out without the help of an iron, but it'd do. "Fine. We'll check Nob Hill, but only to get an idea of the area. Recon-type shit."

"And if we find something?"

"We make a mental note to fuck it up later and leave. That's the point of recon."

When he scowled at her she didn't even flinch.

"Take it or leave it, Gat. Also," she looked him up and down, "you might want to lose the purple. Kind of sets off warning bells."

He grabbed the edge of his purple shirt and dropped it. "That's how you want to play it?"

"Hey, spy work can be fun. We won't exactly be lighting things on fire like last time, but trust me. It won't be boring."

His skeptical look got him the finger, but Johnny shrugged it off. "Whatever, as long as we figure something out."

"Good, now could you...?"

She gestured towards the door and he swept his eyes over her. "Yeah, you might want to wear more than that."

Her face couldn't get any redder. "Just get the hell out, Gat."

* * *

Nob Hill wasn't subtle. As a result their ride wasn't. Their Raycaster was untouched as the two stepped out, dressed in clothes that they had no business wearing, and Johnny adjusted his aviators as they scanned the sidewalks.

The object was to look around and locate the few Saints scattered throughout the area. What she ended up doing for the first ten to fifteen minutes or so was avoiding Johnny's eye, because every stray glance in his direction made her want to crack the hell up. He had to wear a hat to cover his hair, and the fancy clothes Aisha had persuaded him into left him with a perpetual scowl on his face. It was a far cry from his usual, but he looked damn good, and she cursed Aisha for knowing just what to pick.

Her on the other hand? She missed her hat like crazy, and the teased mess that was her hair wouldn't stay out of her face. At least she had the sense to wear pants, but it didn't extend beyond that, because of all the days to do it she picked today to break in the pair of heels resting in the back of her closet. Four-inch heels at that. That was her huge mistake, but if she was going to play the part she wanted to do it right.

However, that didn't mean that she had to stay silent about it. "Why did I wear these again?" she groused.

"Fuck if I know," he replied, sticking by her elbow. "You know you're done if you need to run, right?"

"I can pitch them and go. Besides, if I run out of options I could always try to stab someone with one." Her shoes clicked on the cobblestone beneath them, and she tried to ignore the way they pinched. "Saw that in a movie once. Looked fun."

"You know what isn't fun? Having to save your ass, because you're tossing shit at them instead of pulling your gun."

She pouted, but grabbed his arm to make him stop while she adjusted her shoe. "I didn't say it'd be a good idea..."

He had to stop again five minutes later when her heel got stuck. "Fucking A, V."

"Shut the fuck up, Gat. I'm working on it."

On Thin Ice was their primary target. A short call from Johnny to one of their own had it set up as their meeting point, and from there they could decide how to trade the information. They hobbled over to it, him pushing her along when necessary, but when they reached the store she'd adjusted enough to make her walk passable. That didn't keep her from wanting to throw the shoes into a furnace later, but she could deal with them. For now.

Within minutes of browsing the store someone wandered over to them, his hat angled low. V recognized him as Kris, one of Johnny's crew. She continued to browse the necklaces in front of her as he made sure no one was watching them. There were still cameras on most items, but they kept their voices low as they stayed casual. "Hey, man."

Johnny gave him a nod, and he turned back to V as she pretended to model the necklace for him. "Yo. What's happening?"

"Weird stuff. This place has always been busy, but this is fucking wild."

"Wild can mean a whole hell of a lot. Want to give us a bit more than that?" she asked. A silver choker with a large ornate garnet called to her as she put the other necklace down, and she held it up with a large grin. "Is it my color?"

Gat rubbed his chin. "Red on red?"

"Oh, come on. This is pretty damn classy. Classy piece for a classy lady, am I right?"

"The first, yeah. You sure you want me to answer the second?"

Her jaw fell, and she made sure to give him as harsh a glare as she could manage. "Fuck you. I'm classy as fuck. Kris?"

Their third wheel froze. "S-sure, boss."

"Guy's ready to agree to anything," Gat stated, taking the necklace away from her. "Drop the fucking thing and pick something else already."

"Yes, dear," she replied with false cheer as she picked up a silver chain. "So, Kris. How about those suits?"

He cleared his throat. "Haven't seen many of them today, but they've been heading in and out of these places for the last few days. Same shit I've already passed along, but lots of money's been flashed. Don't know where it's going, though."

"Ultor's got some pretty deep pockets. If it's going where we think it might, that's not good at all." V angled her head just enough to face him, the necklace held to her front. It looked good. Almost good enough to buy. "Any word on this happening at the other places?"

"They keep on floating. I think they've hit almost every store by now."

Johnny bumped her shoulder. "Think they're going to clear the area out?"

"At some point. Or...maybe they won't have to. You leave everything the same and no one's going to look twice."

The urge to get her phone out to confirm it with other-Johnny hit her hard, and she clenched her fingers around the chain to keep from reaching for it. They were handling it. If things weren't looking good he would've called her up to bitch at her about it by now, but the extended silence on his end made her wonder just what was going on over there. In their weird space in the future that wasn't hers. Theirs.

Would she have done anything differently at this point?

 _Yeah, she wouldn't have spent ten minutes bugging the shit out of herself about it. Leave it alone and relax, dammit,_ her mind cut in, snapping her out of it. _Relax and act like a leader, or at least less like a fumbling idiot. You can go over any of that future space-time shit later, but now this needs to get wrapped up neat. Get back on it._

She took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, making sure that both men had their attention on her. "I need you to start asking the people here if Ultor's offering them a cut in things. If the amount's negotiable offer them a higher percentage. We need an in, and if we can get one or two of them on our side, then go for it."

"And if they don't?"

Johnny watched her closely as she thought about it, his sunglasses dark, but not dark enough to hide his eyes. "Find someone else, or step up your game. We need this, and Ultor's not going to wait for us to get comfortable again."

He turned to Gat, but her pointed look kept his attention. "Got it, boss."

"Good. Don't be a stranger now," she told him, handing the necklace off to Johnny. The way back to the front wasn't easy to move through since the crowds had finally begun to migrate in, and she cut around them with about as much grace as she could muster. It lasted about five steps on her end before falling apart. She'd never tripped over her feet before, but there was a first time for everyone. 

Gat's hand clamped around her arm as she swore loudly, and when she regained her balance he lowered his sunglasses. "Done pretending yet?"

Her ankle was sore, but uninjured. She _really_ didn't want to admit to it. "Not feeling the bling?"

"It's getting pretty fucking old. We ready to go?"

"We probably should, eh? I kind of want to check the other places, but fuck it. I'm either going to break my neck or have to get carried by you out of here, and I'm talking worst case scenarios here. Let's hit it."

"About fucking time."

They piled back into the Raycaster, her shoes coming off as soon as they were inside and he eyed the mirror as they backed up. "Hey, that look off to you?"

She looked up at it in time to see a dark van speed by, almost identical to the one that had tried to shoot the shit out her. "You bet. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That you're grateful I'm behind the wheel? Yeah, me too." He threw it into reverse and spun the car around,  getting them back on point before flying after it.

"...You're so lucky I like you. I am not even kidding right now."

His smirk only grew wider as they tailed the vehicle, zipping down side roads with more finesse than she could ever manage. "Guess I am."


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! Working through the outline's been an absolute joy, but it's coming together.

"Hey. Hey!" The car jumped, and V nearly smacked her head on the roof. "You're supposed to dodge most of this shit, not see how many points you can rack up!" Johnny jerked the wheel to the right, and V braced her arm on the door to keep from slamming into it as well. "Yo, anyone there?"

"Can you fuck off, already? Bitching isn't going to make us faster."

"I'll bitch all day if it keeps you from splattering me all over the inside of this car." They ran over the curb as they cut onto another road and her elbow caved, slapping her against the glass. "Ow, Gat! You trying to kill me?"

"No." Another bump had her clutching the seat for dear life, and he threw a hand up. "This ain't even half as bad as your usual!"

"Screw you, man, I can feel this beginning to shake apart and this is a top-notch vehicle. Which you're going to have to pay me for once we're out of here."

"Like hell I am-"

"No, you're fucking paying up with interest. Every damn ding's another tick, and...oh, there goes another one."

He scowled at her and slammed his foot down on the brakes. The motion sent her forward, and only the seatbelt kept her from faceplanting into the dash. She fell back into her seat and gasped, aiming a questioning glance at him until he motioned ahead.

The dark van was gone, disappearing into the skeleton of a building that appeared to be under heavy construction. It took a few seconds to register, but she knew this area. "This is down the damn street from...fuck."

Monroe. This was close to where they'd taken out Monroe, and signs of the damage could be found all over the place. The boarded up windows and scattered debris littered the road and sidewalk and she felt it kick in. The panic and urge to move. To keep firing.

It fed into another memory. That of Johnny pulling her up – other-Johnny - keeping her in front of him, and she shook her head hard to clear the memories out. She tapped the wheel and pointed ahead. "Looks like Kris's info was even better than expected. Keep on going."

"You mean drive right by it?"

"Yeah. Put-put right on by, all casual-like."

Their car lurched back onto the road and eased by the blacked-out building, leading the two back to the more crowded areas. Johnny seemed to be waiting for her signal, and she pointed out a side-street that didn't appear to be too crowded.

"Pull up here." He brought it to a neat stop and V snapped open the seatbelt. "Now to give this walking thing another shot."

If the building had been intimidating before, it was even more so up close. The heavy tarp draped across the front flapped in the wind; the only sound that she could hear aside from Johnny's steps behind her. "That's not shady at all."

"You planning on tip-toeing through that?"

She turned to him. "Uh, yeah. That was my initial plan. I'd rather not get shot now or later, especially when we're heading into unknown territory. Why? You want some lessons?"

The glasses went down, and his eyes narrowed. "What?"

"On how to sneak. I can walk you through it slowly if you'd like. You're on your own if you need any diagrams, though."

"And you're on your own if you think I'm going to carry you down there. You take two steps in those and you'll fall up the nearest incline."

"Fuck off, I can walk-"

"Just as easily as you can fucking roll!"

"The hell do I even bother?" she muttered, reaching for her handgun. The shoes pinched with every step, and she silently pledged to toss any other sets out as soon as they made it back home. "Just work with me here?"

Gat didn't take long to follow her, and she could hear him sigh as she reached the tarp and brushed it aside. Two things struck her immediately. The quiet that had picked at her before she'd walked in hadn't left, and there was no one to be found.

The first she had no choice but to accept and push through. The second made her hair stand on end. The pavement under her feet led to two places, one stretching up and around, and one down to another level. For a parking garage that was going up it made sense for it to be deserted, but she'd been there before. In a place that should've been one thing but turned out to be another.

_It's not the same. It won't be the same, got it?_

"Echo, echo..." She sucked in a breath and tapped her finger against the handgun's trigger guard. "Nope, nothing. It's almost like they want to keep us in suspense."

"Don't see anything here other than tire tracks and rebar. Probably won't unless we follow them."

"Or we could flip a coin."

"Heads or tails? Sure you want to leave it up to that?"

"Well, seeing as my initial pick was down I figure chance couldn't be much worse." The tracks faded in and out as they curved towards the back of the building, disappearing only when they began to head downward.

The lower level was dark, and Johnny's arm brushed against hers when he stopped next to her. "Could go pretty deep. I'm talking floors."

"More to find then." V snapped her fingers. "You know what? Let's make things interesting. I get bottom you get top?"

"And I'll just push you so you can get a headstart?" She elbowed him and he elbowed her back. "You're not a dumbass, so stop trying to do dumb shit, V."

"Down, then?"

"Down it is." He grinned. "Don't trip."

One floor went by, then two. Scattered lights blinked, displaying empty spaces and dusty rooms and her grip on her gun tightened with each dragged step. Yellow lines highlighted where cars should've been, and in the distance she picked out two, both trucks. One was locked, its windows rolled high enough to keep them out without breaking the glass, while the other was cracked more than a few inches.

A set of keys hung from the ignition, and V shrugged before wedging her arm through the gap to see if she could reach the lock. It took a bit of a struggle, but she popped it open and hopped into the driver's seat to check for anything important. Gat leaned against the side as she sifted through the center console, then the dashboard, bringing up nothing but coupons for Freckle Bitch's and napkins.

"Ooh, two for one? Shit, they got some choice deals here." She flipped them over and caught the expiration date. "Aw, fuck. One week too late. Though that does tell us that this truck hasn't done a lot of moving lately."

"Nothing else?"

"Nope, and unless we want to take the time to jack the other I think we should keep moving. I'm not seeing much in there other than garbage."

"Yo, what about the plates?"

She hopped out and checked, but saw nothing. "Nope. Nothing but metal."

Johnny wandered towards the edge where the road kept on spiraling down and lowered his sunglasses when she joined him. She glanced at him briefly then squinted against the low-light as she peered down. Not even the blinking lights carried far enough to highlight the ground.

"My kingdom for a crappy flashlight."

"Don't think that'd help much."

"How about a match?" Her hands brushed against her pocket and she strongly considered lighting up. "Could see if it's able to reach the bottom."

"Maybe." He started to nudge a rock towards it. "Maybe not. Rocks fall all the time, right?" He tapped it forward again and watched her closely.

"Sure." The toe of her heel nudged it an inch closer and she didn't look away. "Gravity doesn't give a shit."

"Nope. Maybe it'll hit something on the way down."

"Would we be that lucky?"

He smirked. "Only one way to find out."

Her breath caught in her throat as she flicked her eyes towards it and waited. The clatter made her shoulders tense as it bounced off of the ground, but nothing else came from the bottom. No movement, no alarm, nothing.

"That's just fucking eerie now," she muttered.

Johnny put his sunglasses back on. "You picked bottom."

"Top's easy. Getting used to being up there right now, actually, but sometimes I like a little excitement in my life." She stepped away from the edge and cleared her throat. "...Sometimes."

"Better start waving your gun around more, boss. You're in for a lot more of it."

He slapped her on the shoulder and started walking down the rest of the way, his usual swagger completely intact.

"Hey-" She covered her mouth and tried not to kick at the ground.

_Sneaking, remember? You're supposed to be sneaking and he's off like he's about to hit FB's, not deal with this Ultor bullshit._

"Dammit, Johnny. Here I thought I was shit at this." Shaking her head, she pulled off her shoes and ran after him.

The lights flashed, a short pulse, but bright. V dropped the heels and swung her gun around. From his spot further down, Johnny raised his head and shrugged before heading on.

"That was weird too!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Because this stealth mission's starting to get fucking-"

"Strange, right?"

The voice from right behind her ear made her swing her gun back hard and fast. A hand clamped around her wrist, but she twisted enough to get her knee up and that got her a reaction. One with cursed words through clenched teeth, and a voice that she really needed to get used to hearing from two different sources on a regular basis.

"Holy fucking hell!" she swore back as other-Johnny let her go. "What the fuck?"

"The fuck right back at you!" He groaned and stood up straight, now dressed in clothes almost exactly like Johnny's. Her Johnny. "Gotta give you credit for hitting something, though."

She covered her eyes and counted to ten while breathing slowly. "Any moment now."

"What?"

"Any minute now Johnny's going to come running up, go, 'Fucking A!' and probably start firing if he doesn't give you a damn fist bump. Just give it a few more seconds."

A whole minute went by and she cracked one eye open. Gat stood there, solid and real, but in no rush to move or hide.

"Where's Johnny...Johnny?"

"This is a level of fucking around that we're not going to get used to, so hear me out just this once. Time's paused. The reason why we're moving is because he's on ice, but not for too long. Five to ten minutes, give or take."

"You paused this. _Time?_ "

"Yeah. Hit the button and here we are. So?"

Her legs were steady, but her head felt funny. "So, I'm having a bit more trouble swallowing this, okay?"

"It's high-level math that I don't have the time or patience to cram into your head, so just nod and roll with it."

"Uh, critical mission failure there, man. Please insert another coin and try again?"

"It's like a VCR. Play, pause, stop. Now you going to try nodding again, or do I have to pull out some pictures and fucking pie charts?"

"Screw it, fine. I'll wing it like I always do. So, hit me. What's going on?"

"This isn't much right now, but it's going to become part of a series of stores that Ultor's going to use as a front for some of their deals, the Rounds Square Shopping Center. They bring the money in, they keep on churning shit out, everyone eats it up, rinse and repeat. Now, what you're going to find in a few minutes is something better."

"Better?" V took in the dust and swept her arms out as she turned to look at it all. "This place is dead. I really don't see how we're supposed to find much of anything here."

Johnny smiled. "I might've stopped by early. Cleaned it out so you'd only find the essentials."

"You're too kind."

"Anything for you, boss."

V's next words stuck in her throat and she ducked her head. It didn't matter that it was still dark and he hadn't bothered to remove his sunglasses. "...Anyway, why go for this? You couldn't have grabbed me before we headed inside?"

"Didn't want to, so I didn't. No point in thinking about it now." He turned and gestured for her to follow him. "You coming? Clock's ticking."

She took a few steps forward and the ground didn't shift, fall away, or rupture. Not that she expected it to, but it let her continue after him much more confidently than when she started. He stopped in front of the elevator on this level, the buttons glowing faintly and punched one for one of the basement levels.

There was a loud ding, and she jumped. "Going down?"

"Down. They don't have much, but they did store some shit that Miller wasn't able to reach."

The doors slid open and closed behind them and V leaned against the side as it crawled down. "They seriously managed to squirrel away more info? I'm surprised they didn't get rid of it the minute we started picking their places off."

"Oh, they tried to. Didn't get too far with that, though."

She felt her lips curve up. "You're just racking up points left and right, Mr. Deus-Ex-Machina."

He shrugged. "Not my fault you keep on giving them."

The doors opened into an area completely different than the garage above. She blinked as she adjusted to the fluorescent lights then felt her jaw drop. "Jesus, you just left them here?"

"They ain't going anywhere." Johnny walked past the Ultor guards and workers straight to the nearest computer. "Just kick 'em to the side if you're afraid of tripping."

Her feet moved over and around each one as she made her way towards him, and the final hop drew a chuckle from him as he pulled a small external hard drive out of his pocket. She leaned forward to check the screen, but gave up when the series of commands that popped up didn't show anything familiar.

"What's here?"

"Locations, insurance policies, blueprints. Boring shit. The fun one's at the center."

"And...?"

"And you'll love it. Think I'll leave the reveal to Miller, though. Got to leave him with something to wave around."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't push it. If Johnny was going to share it, it'd already be out in the open. The typing went on for at least a few more minutes as she chewed on her lip, however, and she shuffled around for lack of anything better to do. Their 'audience' didn't help either, and she found herself thinking about the other floors they'd skipped. All the unaccounted space that they had skipped right over without so much as a second thought.

And Gat. She wasn't exactly hanging around with hers, and that fact had her almost wearing a hole in the floor from where she was fidgeting. "You're good, right? I mean, the Johnny up there. Not that he wouldn't be, but..."

"Yeah. Nothing up there but air." He glanced at her, checking her over before turning back to the computer. "Worried?"

The tapping of the keys continued as she ran through a series of responses and excuses, and she forced herself to keep her attention on him. "...A bit."

"No need."

She stared at his back, but he didn't turn to face her. Only kept on typing. The strands of hair curled around her finger began to pull tight and she straightened her posture. "Says the guy that followed me into yet another creepy building to get to the bad guys before I could. Trying to tell me something?"

"Wouldn't be you if you didn't, V." He disconnected the hard drive and tossed it back and forth from one hand to another, holding it up only when she managed to drag her eyes back to him. "And I might be paying Ultor back for all the shit commercials they got me to do. Two for one."

"Now I know I'll have to hear about those at some point," she said, cracking a smile.

"Don't know, boss. Might need some incentive."

"Incentive?" She cocked her hip to the side and crossed her arms. "From your boss?"

"No exceptions," he said, leaning against the computer desk. "Now you think you can get this back upstairs in one piece, or do I have to keep an eye on it?"

She swiped it and could've sworn that he winked at her the moment she did so. "Shut up. I'm also able to walk and chew gum at the same time in case you were wondering."

"No doubt." The fond hint made her stomach flip, and she was relieved to see it vanish as quickly as it'd popped up. "Better get moving. Wouldn't want to keep me waiting too long."

"And bring the building down after all this?" She twirled the hard drive between her hands and started to make her way back to the elevator. "What do I look like, Gat?"

"You." He raised his chin and that smile of his came back. "That's warning enough."


	21. Chapter 21

It was darker now. She knew it was due to adjusting to the room below, but the space ahead made her hesitate as she tried to pick out any signs of movement. The first few steps out of the elevator were cautious, but as she traveled down the path to where Johnny was, she picked up speed. He shouldn't have had that much of a lead on her, but she couldn't find a damn thing.

"Johnny?" She came to a stop and listened, then heard something close to a cough further down. Pocketing the hard drive, she kept moving, almost hitting a full run when she noticed the shape on the ground. "Johnny!"

He was in the middle of pushing himself back up when she skidded to a sloppy stop by him. She couldn't see him clearly, but she could hear him breathe, and it hadn't been this labored before.

"Johnny, talk to me."

She put a hand on his shoulder and heard him spit on the ground. "Fuck. Give me a sec." He shook his head hard and got up, only to stumble into her. "Maybe two."

The weight on her as she tried to right him nearly threw her off balance, but she wouldn't let go. "You're such a fucking liar. Fine. I'm fine, he says!"

"I am. Didn't feel off when I waiting for you to try on the whole motherfucking store before. Didn't feel that when we came in here either." He sucked in a breath and coughed. "Not until this fucking thing, but whatever."

A thought occurred to her. One tied directly to a certain someone with an easy grin and she felt her nails dig into Gat's jacket. "I'm going to kill him."

"What?"

His glasses were sliding down his nose and V caught the incredulous look in time to snap her mouth shut. "Nothing. Now please tell me you don't need me to carry your ass out of here."

His fingers tightened around her arm as he stepped back. "Out? Change of plans?"

"I...found something over by the elevators. I also might've gone downstairs for a bit."

"Shit, you did that fast. Anything down there?"

"Computers and equipment. I didn't want to stick around, trust me. Being the only person poking around's more than a little creepy so I grabbed the first thing I could and ran back up here."

"And now you want out?"

"Well," she started, then gained traction when she noticed the blood on his face. "Yeah. I want out. We've done our recon. There's weird shit here that needs clearing, and we'll do that with a flood of purple to back us up. I also really need to get on Blue about this."

"Blue." Gat chuckled and let her go. "Kid's strange. Knows a lot."

"He's connected. It's not a bad thing to have around."

"But you're cool with him?"

"God, you two." She crossed her arms and felt her mouth quirk up."Troy asked me the same thing."

"And?"

"I do. He's been honest so far, and the info's been good. Can't ask for much more than that."

He didn't reply, but the small grunt he gave didn't come across as negative. He did, however, turn to look right at her, and she had to resist the urge to fidget in place. "Sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You're welcome to give him the third degree later if you'd like, but I have a feeling Troy already got to him."

"Might pass on that then," he said, frowning. "So, _boss._ "

Her eyebrows went up. "Gat?"

"About this getting out thing..."

Roaring began to echo in the halls, far off, but not enough for them to miss it. V's eyes went wide and she tugged hard on Johnny's sleeve. "That's definitely a thing that's happening."

"You got a fast way, or are we doing this the fun way?"

"Hey, fun can be fast. Who doesn't like a quickie?" The roar went off again and she pointed back to the way they came. "Aw, fuck. Trucks. Go for the trucks!"

Johnny stuck to her as she ran, nearly colliding with her when they both rushed for the driver's seat, but she threw her body against the door when he tried to pry it open.

"The fuck, V!"

"I'm driving. You can snap at me all you want, but driving just ain't happening for you right now, Gat."

He reached for the handle again, his step forward putting him right into her space. "Move."

"Johnny." She tilted her head up to meet his eyes. "You're a better shot than me by a landslide. I need someone in the other seat that can light them up if they follow. You get me?"

The handle opened, shifting the door enough to make her start, and the lenses of his glasses were the blackest she'd seen them. Nothing could get by. "They're going to follow."

"So where would you rather be? Behind the wheel of this, or in the other seat with a loaded gun?" She leaned forward and flicked at the handgun holstered at his side. "No one better, Johnny."

She felt the door close behind her with a click, and he raised his chin. "Keep it straight. Also, on the pavement."

"You got it, boss," she joked, leaning back against the metal. "Any other requests before we have a million guns pointed at our heads?"

"Yeah. Keep the fucking volume down unless it's good. You start singing in the middle of this and I'm taking the wheel."

She gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Try me," he said, stomping off to the opposite side.

When she yanked open the door and twisted the key, she crossed her fingers and hoped it would start. It took a few seconds and some extra turns, but when it kicked on she whooped and threw on her seatbelt. "Anything?"

His eyes were on the path behind them, his gun out and ready. "It's getting louder."

"I was afraid of that." She adjusted the mirrors and slapped on the radio, cranking the volume up high. "Let's do this."

The first van came screeching down when V threw the car into reverse, and she peeled out in an arc that had Johnny swaying as he leaned out to open fire. None of the shots broke through the glass on the front and side, but V didn't wait for them to lower the window for him to get a better shot.

He jerked again, falling back in his seat as she hit the gas, and when he continued to use every colorful name in the book she knew she'd earned it.

"Straight motherfucking line, V!"

"I know!"

She curved to the right as they went up and Johnny spun on her. "That's not fucking straight!"

" _I know!_ "

She shrieked when another van bore down on them and spun the wheel hard to the left to avoid it. It clipped the tail of their truck, causing the tires to screech as they slid along the pavement, but they coasted through it, her grip on the wheel stronger than ever.

They shot out of the garage onto the street, and sure enough two vans lumbered onto the road after them. Johnny leaned out of the window again, leaping up as soon as they were back under daylight and she blinked to clear her eyes.

_Calm and cool, V. Calm and cool._

She slammed on the horn and zipped through the space made for her on the road, her mind running through the list of short cuts in the area. There were a few, but it became a gnarled knot between listening to Johnny's hail of bullets and the sound of crunching metal.

The light ahead went from red to green, and she didn't slow down, only sped up. They flew through, the tires leaving the pavement for a second, and she couldn't breathe until they touched the ground again.

Then it hit. The perfect out. The path ahead weaved all the shopping centers into knots, and if they could find a way through and ditch the car to blend in they would be golden. She tugged on the back of Johnny's coat. "Hey, get in here, because I'm turning!"

He crawled back in – his hat long gone - and turned to her. "What?"

The turn almost made him drop his gun, and she muttered, "Please work, please work," over and over as they crammed themselves down the alley. "Are they behind us?"

"No," he ground out, breathing heavily.

"Okay, I need you to move with me when I stop this. Are you able?"

He undid his seatbelt, and V almost yelled at him to get it back on. "Blow me."

"I'll take that as a yes." She made her way back, and her eyes kept on going to the mirror when they were trying to go to him. "Grab anything you think looks important, because we're booking it."

The move that planted them in a nearby parking lot had her hurriedly unbuckling, and she hopped out only to immediately scramble away due to the van that came crashing through. It slammed into the neat line of cars and came to a shuddering stop.

The doors on the sides opened, and she didn't wait for them to move to open fire. They had the advantage now, and with Johnny already in position, the two picked off the men in black before they could get more than five shots off. The driver was last, and Gat closed the distance before she could. He threw the door open and the man in the front only had time to say, "Wait," before Johnny put a bullet in his head.

"Whoa, hey!" She ran up next to him and frowned. "We could've used him."

"Maybe. Or maybe not. Can't trust any of these fuckers." His forehead was covered in sweat and V tried to put a hand on his arm only to have him shrug her off. "I'm fine."

"Oh, I'm real fucking reassured. One-hundred percent."

She dodged his glare as she rifled through the pockets of the man in front, trying to keep her eyes off of Gat's handiwork. A random set of keys, followed by gum, and soon his wallet. She pocketed that and went to check the others as sirens sounded in the distance, but paused. She dragged the body out of the front seat and pointed at the seat next to her. "Get in."

"You serious?" he asked, his mouth hinting at a grin.

"After losing our Raycaster and dealing with these assholes? You bet your ass I am," she said, turning the keys in the ignition. "Motherfuckers got to learn that if they dangle shiny things in front of me, I might just decide to take them."

* * *

"No."

" _Oh, come on,"_ Dee said, her voice rising. _"You know it could work. He's been running in circles for the last two hours and I'm seeing openings left and right."_

"I want you to keep an eye on this guy, not tail him and throw him into the trunk of your car. That's not going to leave a good impression, or make him inclined to talk." Troy gripped the steering wheel tighter at the thought, and sighed. "We need to play it safe."

" _Safe isn't going to get results, Troy. I've seen this guy, and he's like a sack of wet tissue paper. I could break him by spitting at him for God's sake._ "

"Dee. Reel it in, or I'm getting someone else."

The hard tone left her quiet for a minute, then he heard her huff. _"All right. I'll watch. I want your fucking ear later tonight, though."_

"Fine. Head to the mansion and we'll go over it. Good?"

" _Sure, boss."_

She hung up and Troy felt a slow ache start beneath his temples.

He had options when it came to this. Lot of options, and lots of people that he could've asked to be posted on this job, but Dee was good. When she was given a job and told not to treat it with kid gloves, she never took that statement lightly, but this job came with a caveat. One that only he and V knew.

He'd gone through the story multiple times, checked and double-checked himself before even breathing a word of it to her, and he still felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Johnson was a lead. He'd told her that first, then slid into the next without even flinching. Facts were easier to handle, and now was no exception.

Stilwater PD needed a new chief. Ultor was putting pressure on them, and he'd caught word of a few people they had their eye on. He'd wanted patterns. Patterns and a routine that he was able to slip into and interrupt without making too many waves. What he didn't want was Johnson bolting, or anyone catching wind of the top candidate he'd deliberately left out.

Dee was good. But Dee was also Dee, and when she saw a good chance to push she often did. It was one of many reasons she and V got along so well, and he'd relied on that trait before, but now was different. Everything had been thrown so fucking far off base it made sense that no one was one-hundred percent calm, but he had to get a grip. You could only get so worn down before fucking up, and he'd done enough of that lately to last a lifetime.

He brought his car to a stop in the garage out back, and wondered just how bad it'd look to walk inside with two cigarettes lit. His pack was out and bouncing between each hand when a Saint ran up to him, and Troy threw the stub down to stomp it out for a new one.

"Hey, uh, I've got a message for the boss."

"She still out?" he asked, lighting the cigarette with a flick of his wrist.

"No, she's in, but when she ran in with Gat it looked bad. Like she'd be holed up for a while. I didn't want to hold onto this until-"

"Whoa, hold up," Troy cut in, "how bad?"

"Like she was fucking dragging him bad. I don't know the whole thing, but..."

Troy didn't even feel his legs start to move. He went on pure autopilot as he wound his way back to the room they'd designated as the place for minor medical attention, and the sound of arguing as he got closer told him he was on the right track.

"It's not even thirty minutes!" V shot, her voice coming across loud and clear. "You can sit in one spot and wait for Suze, because I'm not having you drop dead on me later."

Johnny's voice was harder to pick up on at first, but the closer he got the less trouble he had. "We've done this already, and if I'm going to spend thirty minutes on my back, it's going to have to come with a better argument than that."

"Fainting's not normal, Gat."

"I didn't fucking faint. I needed a moment."

"Where I had to pry you off of the ground. Argue all you want, you're staying put until a doctor walks into this-"

Troy didn't bother to knock when he entered, but Johnny caught him immediately. "Great. You're like a fucking magnet."

"Yeah, when you come in and spook people enough to tell me on sight," Troy snapped, walking up to the two of them.

V had her hands on her hips, her hair tangled and wilting as she continued to blow it out of her face, and he had to take a second look at her getup before moving to Gat. None of it fit her usual prereqs of functional or casual, but the dark button-down shirt and pants fit her like a glove, though he had no damn clue where her shoes had gone. Johnny had something in the same theme on, though the traces of blood staining the white was what caught Troy's eye first. That, and Gat's irritated expression as he leaned back into the couch, but that wasn't unusual.

Seeing Johnny back here in less than twenty-four hours wasn't either. The shot to his knee had him bouncing in and out of the place between jobs when the local doctor was able to get a hold of him before, and it looked like now was going to be yet another one of those times.

Troy opened his mouth to start in on them, but stopped when V cut in front of him. "Hey, can you keep him busy?" She glanced over her shoulder at Johnny then leaned closer, placing her hand on his chest. "He really needs this, and I need to get back to Matt ASAP."

"...Sure," he said, his eyes flicking between the two as he kept his voice down. "And you're fit to go?"

"I'm fine. The worst thing I did was get winded, and the only thing that's good for that right now is the one thing I don't want to give up." She eyed his cigarette, but shook her head when he started to reach for his pack. "You're supposed to discourage me, not enable me, chief."

She ran a finger along the chain around his neck and Troy cleared his throat. "I'm a shit role model, remember?" That got a grin out of her, highlighting the gloss on her lips, and he tried to return it. "I want to talk later, though. Once we're both done."

She nodded, unsure, but curious. "Sounds serious."

"Could be. Figured we could go over it and decide how bad."

"Great. Gotta love complications. Yeah, later works," she said, walking around him, but spun so she could face them as she left. "I'll call when I'm done, but you better not let him get out. Got it?"

Johnny flipped her off, and Troy chuckled. "You're the boss."

When she disappeared around the corner Troy pinched his cigarette between his fingers and leveled a look at Gat. Johnny returned it, but the sunglasses made it tough to keep track of his eyes. They always did, and Troy had a feeling it was entirely intentional.

He leaned forward to get a better look at him, and Johnny immediately waved him off. "Get out of my face. Bad enough when she does it."

Troy didn't move. "The fuck happened out there?"

"You want to guess? Get it in one, and I might have something to talk about."

He let out a heavy sigh and stepped back to start pacing. "You pissed off Ultor. I don't even have to guess. The question is how close you cut it, but you're both here and not locked up or dead, so...I'm guessing better than the last time since there weren't any rockets around for you to fire off." He paused and held a hand up. "Warmer or colder?"

"Fuck you," Gat said, an edge creeping into his voice. "They're buying up property at Nob Hill. Building shit. We found a building they were using as a cover and V cleared us out."

"Before you could blow it?"

"She caught me early. A fucking shame."

"Considering your track record? You're both lucky there was a building to leave."

Troy started when Johnny stood up, but when he rocked on his feet instead of grabbing him, Troy didn't back away. Gat's jaw tightened, and he sat back down. "Just keep on pushing."

"And what?" Troy asked, his brows creased together. "You'll actually break my jaw this time?"

"Don't tempt me," he muttered. "Could always try again."

"Try. Right." He watched Gat remove his sunglasses to rub his eyes, and by the time he put them back on, Troy couldn't keep the frown off of his face. "Something did happen out there, huh?"

"You see anything off? Everything's still in the same place."

"Yeah, and that would be great if you weren't swaying like you've been on a bender. I'm not leaving until Susan gets here, so drop it."

Johnny leaned back to rest on the couch, flinching, but only for a few seconds. "Nag, nag, nag. You're like a broken record. At least V knows when to stop."

"Well, I'm not here to hold your hand and make you comfortable. Not officially, at least. You got to ask first."

His lip curled, but there wasn't much to the snarl. "Oh, fuck off. I know you're trying to piss me off to keep me up."

"Is it working?"

He closed his eyes and shrugged. "You're getting there."

Troy walked over again, his arms folded in front of him, and frowned. "You're looking bad, though."

"Weak," Johnny said, pillowing his head under his arms. "Try again."

"I'm serious. You're flying Saints' colors all over. That takes talent."

"I'm good at what I do. Nice to hear you acknowledge it."

Troy rubbed his eyes and resumed his pacing. "I'm trying to piss you off, remember? Not pay you a fucking compliment."

"Try harder. Though the mixed signals aren't half-bad."

"Okay." Troy counted to five then looked right at him. "You really don't give a shit sometimes, do you?"

That got Johnny's attention in no time flat.


End file.
